Ml 


f.r. 


Under   the 
Highest   Leadership 


John  Douglas  Adam 


BV 

4501 

.A3 

1917 


is/aw!^-;■-^^i■1*'' 


(     NOV  I?  1917 


BV  4501  .A3  1917 

Adam,  John  Douglas,  b.  1866 

Under  the  highest  leadershi 


UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 


EVERYDAY  LIFE  SERIES 

The  Christian  According  to  Paul:  John  T.  Farts 
Psalms  of  the  Social  Life  :  Cleland  B.  McAfee 
The  Many  Sided  David:  Philip  E.  Howard 
Meeting  the  Master:  Ozora  S.  Davis 
Under  the  Highest  Leadership:  John  Douglas  Adam 
Other  volumes  to  be  announced  later 


EVERYDAY  LIFE  SERIES 


Under  the  Highest  Leadership 


JOHN  DOUGLAS  ADAM 

Author  of  "Paul  in  Everyday  Life,''  "Religion  and 

the  Growing  Mind,''  "Letters  of  Father  and  Son 

During  College  Days,"  etc. 


mnirr, 


NOV  1 7  1917 


ASSOCIATION  PRESS 

124  East  28th  Street,  New  York 

1917 


Copyright,  19 17,  by 

The  International  Committee  of 

TouNG  Men's  Christian  Associations 


The  Bible  Text  used  in  this  volume  is  taken  from  the  American  Standard 
Edition  of  the  Revised  Bible,  copyright,  1901,  by  Thomas  Nelson  &  Sons,  and 
is  used  by  permission. 

PRINTED    in   the   UNITED   STATES   OF   AMERICA 


TO 

E.  B.  A, 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  SEEKING  GOD i 

(i)  What  is  Religion?  (2)  The  Difficulty  of  Belief  (3)  The 
Difficulty  of  Unbelief  (4)  The  Attitude  of  Doubt  (5)  The 
First  Step — A  Sense  of  Need  (6)  Mental  Seriousness  (7) 
Moral  Seriousness 

II.  RECOGNIZING  THE  HIGHEST  LIGHT  UPON 

GOD 12 

(i)    The   Insufficiency   of   the    Independent    Search   for    God 

(2)  God  Revealed  Himself  (3)  God  Revealed  Himself  Ac- 
cording to  Human  Capacity  (4)  God  Revealed  Down  through 
the  Centuries  (5)  The  Supreme  Revelation  (6)  Who  Is  the 
Supreme  Revelation  of  God?  (7)  Why  is  Jesus  Christ  the 
Supreme  Revelation  of  God? 

III.  HOW  IS  CHRIST  MADE  REAL  TO  US? 23 

(i)  The  Testimony  of  the  New  Testament  Regarding  Jesus 
Christ  (2)  The  Testimony  of  Christians  Regarding  Jesus 
Christ  (3)  Jesus  Christ  Made  Real  through  Lives  Which 
Suggest  Him     (4)  Christ  Made  Real  through  a  Personal  Test 

(5)  Christ   Made  Real  through  the  Eclipse  of  Other  Things 

(6)  Christ  Made  Real  through  Concern  for  Others  (7)  Christ 
Made  Real  through  Dispelling  False  Impressions 

IV.  WHAT   WAS   JESUS   CHRIST   TO   HIS   FIRST 

FOLLOWERS? 35 

(i)   They  Saw  God  Focused     (2)   They  Saw  God  Simplified 

(3)  They  Saw  God  as  Humanly  Available  (4)  They  Ex- 
perienced God  Within  (s)  They  Experienced  Forgiveness 
(6)  They  Possessed  Power  (7)  They  Found  a  Center  for 
Social  Unity  and  Progress 

V.  SOME  OBSTACLES  IN  THE  WAY  OF  KNOW- 
ING CHRIST 45 

(i)  The  Mind  Fixed  upon  a  Moral  Standard  Rather  Than  upon  ^ 
Christ  (2)  The  Mind  Centering  upon  Personal  Failure  In- 
stead of  upon  Christ  (3)  Christ  Eclipsed  by  Occupation  with 
Good  Work  (4)  Christ  Eclipsed  by  Making  Prayer  an  End 
in  Itself  (5)  Christ  Eclipsed  by  Thoughts  of  the  Attitude  of 
Others  (6)  Visualizing  Jesus  Christ  (7)  The  Nearness  of 
Jesus  Christ 

VI.  THE  THOUGHTS  IN  RELATION  TO  CHRIST.  .      55 

(i)  The  Place  of  Thought  in  our  Relation  to  Christ  (2)  Think- 
ing upon  Christ  Is  More  Than  Mere  Reverie  (3)  Thinking 
upon  Christ  a  Growing  Habit  of  Mental-  Attention  (4)  The 
Element  of  Time  in  Relation  to  Mental  Attention  towards 
Christ  (5)  The  Active  and  Passive  Aspects  of  Mental  Atten- 
tion towards  Christ  (6)  The  Passive  Attitude  in  Mental  At-, 
tention  towards  Christ  (7)  The  Active  Attitude  in  Mental 
Attention 

vii 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

VII.  THE  WILL  IN  RELATION  TO  CHRIST 66 

(i)  The  Supremacy  of  the  Will  (2)  Christ's  Relation  to  Our 
Will  (3)  The  Will  Deciding  (4)  The  Will  Surrendering 
(S)  The  Will  Appropriating  Strength  (6)  The  Will  Cooperat- 
ing with  Christ     (7)  The  Will  Forgetting  Itself 

VIII.  THE  IMAGINATION  IN  RELATION  TO  CHRIST     76 

(i)  Imagination  as  the  Pioneer  Faculty  Upwards  (2)  Imag- 
ination as  the  Pioneer  Faculty  Downwards  (3)  The  Relation 
of  the  Imagination  to  the  Reason  and  the  Will  (4)  The  Rela- 
tion of  Christ  to  the  Imagination  (5)  The  Christian  Use  of 
the  Imagination  (6)  The  Fight  of  the  Christian  Imagination 
(7)  The  Victorj  of  the  Christian  Imagination 

IX.  SOME  ELEMENTS  IN  THE  INNER  CHANGE.     86 

(i)  The  Sense  of  the  Love  of  Christ  (2)  The  Love  of  Christ 
as  a  Supreme  Fact  (3)  The  Renewal  of  Our  Affection  (4) 
Christ  at  Work  (5)  Christ  Relating  the  Life  to  Its  True  En- 
vironment (6)  Christ  Releasing  from  Slavery  to  the  World 
(7)  The  New  Patience 

X.  THE  RELEASE  FROM  ANXIETY 95 

(i)  The  Fact  of  Anxiety  (2)  Causes  of  the  Anxious  Attitude 
(3)  The  Unanxious  Attitude  (4)  What  the  Unanxious  Atti- 
tude Does  Not  Mean  (5)  Unanxious  Regarding  Spiritual 
Growth  (6)  Unanxious  Regarding  Influence  (7)  Unanxious 
Regarding  Happiness 

XL  THE  ECONOMIC  VALUE  OF  THE  NEW  LIFE. .    io6 

(i)  The  New  Simplicity  of  Desire  (2)  The  New  Humility 
(3)    The    New    Efficiency     (4)    The    New    Conscientiousness 

(5)  The  New  Ambition  (6)  The  New  Health  (7)  The  New 
Comprehensire  Economic  Value 

XIL  THE     INDIVIDUAL    CONTRIBUTION    TO 

PROGRESS 115 

(i)   Personal  Atmosphere     (2)   Suggestion  of  Eternal  Reality 

(3)  Moral  Originality     (4)   Testimony     (5)  Social  Sympathy 

(6)  A  Confident  Spirit     (7)  Intercessory  Prayer 

X:iIL  SOCIAL  CONTACTS 127 

(i)    The    Family     (2)    The    Church     (3)    As    an    Employer 

(4)  As  an  Employe     (5)  As  a  Friend     (6)  The  Community 

(7)  The  Nation 


CHAPTER  I 

Seeking  God 


Our  goal  is  the  presence  of  Jesus  Christ.  But  we  cannot 
begin  there.  For  there  are  some  whose  company  we  greatly 
desire,  who  do  not  yet  even  believe  in  a  personal  God,  and 
they  are  unable  at  present  to  pursue  their  search  for  God 
along  the  definitely  Christian  way. 

Still  they  are  seekers,  and  insist  upon  starting  with  us 
from  the  spot  where  they  stand.  If  you  do  not  wish  to 
travel  with  us  over  their  bit  of  the  road,  meet  us  later ;  in 
the  meantime  the  rest  of  us  will  try  to  keep  sympathetic 
step  with  our  seeking  friends.  They  ask  for  an  elementary 
idea  of  the  meaning  of  religion. 

DAILY  READINGS 
First  Week,  First  Day:  What  Is  Religion? 

That  they  should  seek  God,  if  haply  they  might  feel  after 
him  and  find  him,  though  he  is  not  far  from  each  one  of 
us:  for  in  him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being;  as 
certain  even  of  your  own  poets  have  said, 

For  we  are  also  his  offspring. 

Being  then  the  offspring  of  God,  we  ought  not  to  think 
that  the  Godhead  is  like  unto  gold,  or  silver,  or  stone, 
graven  by  art  and  device  of  man. — Acts  17:  27-29. 

Religion  is  life.  It  is  human  life  seeking  God.  It  is  not 
primarily  a  discussion.  It  is  an  instinct  in  our  nature  press- 
ing beyond  the  visible  world.  This  instinct  for  God  springs 
from  the  most  fundamental  elements  within  us.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  persistent  things  in  human  history.  It  was  not 
created  by  priests  or  theologians  any  fnore  than  flowers  are 
created  by  botanists.  The  flower  was  before  the  botanist 
and  religion  was  before  the  minister  or  the  theologian.  We 
seek  God  because  we  are  what  we  are.     As  a  human  race 


[1-2]        UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

we  cannot  help  ourselves.  Everything  finds  its  progressive 
life  and  destiny  through  a  relationship  with  something  else, 
which  is  the  counterpart  of  its  own  life.  The  fish  thrives 
in  the  water  and  dies  when  taken  out  of  it.  And  man  finds 
himself  in  his  relationship  with  the  unseen.  This  is  the 
message  of  history,  it  is  the  testimony  of  experience  in  the 
most  vivid  zone  of  human  consciousness.  We  are  conscious 
of  a  capacity  for  what  is  beyond  the  seen,  and  no  intellectual 
or  other  difficulty  can  permanently  silence  our  fundamental 
persistent  instincts. 

But  belief  in  God  has  always  been  difficult  for  some  people. 
Why? 

First  Week,  Second  Day:  The  DifHculty  o£  Belief 

Jehovah  reigneth;  let  the  earth  rejoice; 
Let  the  multitude  of  isles  be  glad. 
Clouds  and  darkness  are  round  about  him: 
Righteousness    and    justice    are    the    foundation    of   his 
throne. — Psalm  97;  i,  2. 

The  writers  of  the  Bible  took  belief  in  God  for  granted. 
It  was  the  center  of  their  thought  and  life  and  outlook.  But 
they  encountered  clouds  and  darkness  in  their  believing. 
Their  faith  was  tried.  It  could  not  have  been  faith  if  it  had 
not  been  severely  tested.  To  sum  up  Browning's  interpreta- 
tion in  "Christmas  Eve  and  Easter  Day" :  Faith  may  be  God's 
touchstone;  God  does  not  reward  us  with  Heaven  because 
we  see  the  sun  shining,  nor  crown  a  man  victor  because  he 
draws  his  breath  duly.  For  many  minds  belief  in  God  has 
great  difficulties  in  an  age  of  triumphant  science,  and  in  a 
period  of  universal  tragedy.  No  one  who  sympathetically 
tries  to  understand  the  modern  mental  struggle  can  make 
light  of  the  many  aspects  of  difficulty  of  belief  in  God.  And 
yet  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  aspect  of  modern  intellectual 
difficulty  has  been  stated  by  Professor  Hoffding  of  Copen- 
hagen :  *Tt  is  not  so  much  the  results  at  which  science  is 
arriving,  or  has.  arrived,  which  bring  about  the  quarrel  be- 
tween science  and  religion,  and  condition  the  religious  prob- 
lem ;  but  rather  the  whole  trend  of  ideas,  the  entire  habit 
of  mind  which  empirical  science  has  fostered  in  those  who 
have  developed  under  its  influence."  The  supreme  difficulty 
is  not  this  or  that  point,  but  a  habit  of  mind  which  remains 

2 


SEEKING  GOD  [I-3] 

when  this  or  that  point  has  been  dealt  zvith.     Are  the  habits 
of  our  'mind  favorable  to  the  solution  of  difficulty  in  belief? 

What  have  been  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  belief  in 
our  own  lives  ? 

First  Week,  Third  Day:  The  Difficulty  o£  Unbelief 

Then  Jehovah  answered  Job  out  of  the  whirlwind,  and 
said, 
■    Who  is  this  that  darkeneth  counsel 

By  words  without  knowledge? 

Gird  up  now  thy  loins  like  a  man; 

For  I  will  demand  of  thee,  and  declare  thou  unto  me. 

Where  wast  thou  when   I   laid  the  foundations  of  the 
earth? 

Declare,  if  thou  hast  understanding. 

Who  determined  the  measures  thereof,  if  thou  knowest? 

Or  who  stretched  the  line  upon  it? 

Whereupon  were  the  foundations  thereof  fastened? 

Or  who  laid  the  corner-stone  thereof. — Job  38:  1-6. 

Belief  has  difficulties.  But  are  not  the  difficulties  of  un- 
belief greater?  The  problem  of  difficulty  was  not  solved  for 
Tolstoi  when  he  entered  upon  a  period  of  skepticism.  He 
realized  that  he  went  from  comparative  difficulty  to  superla- 
tive difficulty.  For  him  unbelief  not  only  robbed  the  universe 
of  rationality,  but  it  paralyzed  his  human  enthusiasm.  'T 
need  only  to  be  aware  of  God  to  live,  I  need  only  to  forget 
Him  or  disbelieve  in  Him  and  I  die.  To  know  God  and  to 
live  is  one  and  the  same  thing.  God  is  life.  Live  seeking 
God  and  then  you  will  not  live  without  God." 

That  which  zve  all  recognize  to  be  of  the  highest  zvorth  in 
life  loses  its  value  without  God  behind  all.  Mr.  Balfour  in 
his  Gifford  Lecture  contends  that  if  we  would  maintain  the 
value  of  our  highest  beliefs  and  emotions  we  must  find 
for  them  a  sufficient  origin.  "Beauty  must  be  more  than 
an  accident.  The  source  of  morality  must  be  moral.  The 
source  of  knowledge  must  be  rational."  Which  is  more 
rational :  to  surrender  to  the  difficulties  of  belief  or  of  un- 
belief? 

On  which  side  do  we  encounter  the  greater  difficulties? 

First  Week,  Fourth  Day:  The  Attitude  of  Doubt 
Now  when  John  heard  in  the  prison  the  works  of  the 
3 


[1-5]        UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

Christ,  he  sent  by  his  disciples  and  said  unto  him,  Art  thou 
he  that  cometh,  or  look  we  for  another?  And  Jesus  an- 
swered and  said  unto  them,  Go  and  tell  John  the  things 
which  ye  hear  and  see:  the  blind  receive  their  sight,  and 
the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  and  the  deaf  hear, 
and  the  dead  are  raised  up,  and  the  poor  have  good  tidings 
preached  to  them.  And  blessed  is  he,  whosoever  shall  find 
no  occasion  of  stumbling  in  me. — Matt,  ii:  2-6. 

With  some,  doubt  is  an  attitude  of  intellectual  adventure, 
with  quite  inadequate  mental  equipment  for  the  experiment. 
They  are  like  an  inexperienced  boy  stranded  on  the  road  to 
the  metropolis,  who  has  slipped  away  from  home  without  the 
ability  to  make  his  way ;  his  pride  will  not  let  him  return. 
He  has  neither  a  home  nor  a  destination.  There  are  others, 
unfortunately,  to  whom  doubt  is  a  place  of  refuge  from  an 
uncomfortable  moral  challenge.  Doubt*  is  welcomed  as  a 
relief.  It  is  sought  as  an  end  in  itself.  The  mind  ceases 
to  be  open. 

There  are  various  kinds  of  doubt,  and  a  variety  of  motives 
which  prompt  doubt.  The  passage  of  Scripture  quoted  above 
illustrates  the  highest  kind  of  motive.  The  doubter  in  this 
instance  hated  to  doubt,  but  for  the  moment  he  felt  driven 
to  it.  It  was  caused  by  a  misunderstanding,  but  the  motive 
was  right.  He  did  not  glory  in  his  doubt.  He  was  distressed 
by  it.  He  longed  to  believe.  His  attitude  was  honest,  earnest, 
inquiring.  Browning  says:  "If  you  desire  faith,  then  you've 
faith  enough."  At  any  rate,  doubt  that  strives  to  get  beyond 
doubting  is  on  the  open  road  to  knowledge. 

Is  my  doubt  a  courageous  attempt  to  reach  the  highest 
truth? 

First  Week,  Fifth  Day:  The  First  Step— A  Sense 
of  Need 

But  when  he  came  to  himself  he  said.  How  many  hired 
servants  of  my  father's  have  bread  enough  and  to  spare, 
and  I  perish  here  with  hunger!  I  will  arise  and  go  to  my 
father,  and  will  say  unto  him,  Father,  I  have  sinned 
against  heaven,  and  in  thy  sight:  I  am  no  more  worthy  to 
be  called  thy  son:  make  me  as  one  of  thy  hired  servants. 
And  he  arose,  and  came  to  his  father.  But  while  he  was 
yet  afar  off,  his  father  saw  him,  and  was  moved  with  com- 
passion, and  ran,  and  fell  on  his  neck,  and  kissed  him.— 
Luke  15:  17-20. 

4 


SEEKING  GOD  [1-6] 

The  way  to  God  is  through  some  sense  of  need.  We  all 
have  the  need,  because  it  is  part  of  our  nature.  The  differ- 
ence between  some  men  and  others  is  not  that  'their  funda- 
mental needs  are  so  different;  it  is  rather  that  some  know 
what  their  needs  are  and  others  do  not.  Some  know,  and 
some  do  not  know,  what  is  the  matter  with  them.  Some 
know  that  they  cannot  get  what  they  need  in  the  depths  of 
their  being  except  from  God.  Others  are  trying  consciously 
or  unconsciously  to  get  the  satisfaction  they  crave  everywhere 
else  than  in  God.  And  it  takes  a  long  time  for  very  many 
to  find  out  just  what  it  is  for  which  their  nature  is  craving, 
and  just  where  to  go  in  order  to  get  it.  The  supreme  funda- 
mental questions  for  us  all  are  (i)  What  are  our  deepest 
needs?  and  (2)  Where  are  these  needs  to  be  satisfied?  It 
is  a  long  story  of  disillusionment  before  most  of  us  definitely 
face  these  two  questions. 

But  until  something  forces  us  to  realize  that  "our  souls 
are  restless  till  they  find  their  rest"  in  God,  our  interest  in 
religion  is  likely  to  be  a  superficial  affair.  Is  there  not  some- 
thing in  our  lives  which  is  creating  a  deepened  sense  of  need, 
a  new  responsibility,  a  difficult  decision,  a  sense  of  short- 
coming, the  guileless  request  of  a  child  for  light? 

First  Week,  Sixth  Day:  Mental  Seriousness 

And  one  of  them,  a  lawyer,  asked  him  a  question,  trying 
him:  Teacher,  which  is  the  great  commandment  in  the 
law?  And  he  said  unto  him.  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy 
God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all 
thy  mind.  This  is  the  great  and  first  commandment. — 
Matt.  22:  35-38. 

"With  all  my  mind."  Mental  seriousness  is  a  condition  of 
reality  in  religion.  The  quest  for  God  demands  the  same 
mental  attention  as  other  pursuits  command.  And  when  there 
is  a  real  sense  of  fundamental  need  for  God,  that  sense  of 
need  will  focus  the  mental  interest,  and  deepen  it.  George  J. 
Romanes,  the  brilliant  scientist,  illustrates  this  attitude  of 
mental  seriousness  in  his  search  for  God.  When  he  accepted 
evolution  as  a  scientific  dogma,  he  thought  he  must  abandon 
his  religious  faith,  and  he  withdrew  his  youthful  book  on 
prayer.  But  the  question  of  a  personal  God  was  not  closed 
for  him.    He  maintained  his  attitude  of  deep  seriousness,  and 


[1-7]        UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

discovered  that  he  had  made  false  conclusions  in  the  realm 
of  religion  from  physical  scientific  premises.  He  came  back 
to  belief  iri  God  with  a  complete  mental  seriousness  and 
candor,  having  realized  that  he  had  been  altogether  too 
dogmatic  outside  his  scientific  sphere.  The  story  of  his  in- 
tellectual struggle  is  revealed  in  the  book,  "Thoughts  on 
Religion,"  edited  by  Bishop  Gore. 

Do  I  know  the  meaning  of  mental  seriousness  as  a  principle 
in  living?  Am  I  willing  to  see  this  matter  of  doubt  through 
in  the  spirit  of  seriousness? 

First  Week,  Seventh  Day:  Moral  Seriousness 

And  when  Jesus  came  to  the  place,  he  looked  up,  and 
said  unto  him,  Zacchaeus,  make  haste,  and  come  down;  for 
to-day  I  must  abide  at  thy  house.  And  he  made  haste,  and 
came  down,  and  received  him  joyfully.  And  when  they 
saw  it,  they  all  murmured,  saying,  He  is  gone  in  to  lodge 
with  a  man  that  is  a  sinner.  And  Zacchaeus  stood,  and  said 
unto  the  Lord,  Behold,  Lord,  the  half  of  my  goods  I  give 
to  the  poor;  and  if  I  have  wrongfully  exacted  aught  of  any 
man,  I  restore  fourfold.  And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  To-day 
is  salvation  come  to  this  house,  forasmuch  as  he  also  is  a 
son  of  Abraham.  For  the  Son  of  man  came  to  seek  and  to 
save  that  which  was  lost. — Luke  19:  5-10. 

We  mean  here  by  moral  seriousness  the  constant  willing- 
ness to  follow  light  at  any  price — to  be  ready,  if  need  be, 
to  decide  and  act  immediately.  Jacob  was  morally  serious 
when  he  went  forward  to  meet  Esau.  Great  literature  repeals 
supreme  moments  in  which  men  create  a  crisis  through 
heroically  breaking  away  from  accumulations  of  unreality 
in  their  lives.  A  man  may  crowd  the  moral  r.eality  of  years 
into  an  hour  of  decision.  In  that  courageous  hour  the  fog 
is  dispelled  from  the  mental  outlook,  and  new  enthusiasms 
stir  the  soul.  Many  have  become  conscious  of  God  through 
immediate  obedience  to  light  without  coquetting  with  conse- 
quences. 

Let  us  remember  there  is  a  mental  seriousness  which  is 
not  always  associated  with  moral  seriousness.  They  ought 
to  go  together.  Because  such  is  not  invariably  the  case,  it 
is  disappointing  in  life  sometimes  to  find  mental  ability  asso- 
ciated with  moral  cowardice,  the  result  being  that  the  mental 
vision  is  narrowed.     For  what  we  see  depends  a  great  deal 

6 


SEEKING  GOD  '  [I-c] 

on  our  own  readiness  to  put  everything  we  have  into  the 
game  of  life. 

Where  moral  seriousness  exists  the  mind  is  not  only  seri- 
ous— it  is  reverent,  and  teachable.  And  reverence  gives  dis- 
tinction and  penetration  to  the  intellect.  Let  us  therefore 
seek  God  with  our  whole  personality,  and  in  this  attitude  we 
shall  see  farthest. 

Can  we  do  this? 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 

I 

Let  us  try  to  follow  the  road  along  which  a  thoughtful 
person  of  the  twentieth  century  sometimes  travels  to  a  belief 
in  God.  And  let  us  bear  in  mind,  while  it  may  not  be  the 
way  by  which  we  have  come,  it  is  not  an  imaginary  path. 
While  the  facts  may  not  all  have  come  out  of  one  experience, 
they  are  still  facts  from  life. 

First  of  all  then,  this  person  for  some  time  previously  had 
been  shedding  his  former  belief.  It  may  be  that  his  mind  had 
been  overloaded  in  earlier  years  with  a  lot  of  things  which 
the  accepted  implicitly  as  all  equally  necessary  to  a  real  faith. 
As  a  student  of  the  thought  of  his  time,  he  had  been  quietly 
dropping  one  after  another  of  those  ideas ;  and  he  was 
tempted  to  think  that  since  so  much  was  unnecessary,  or 
absolutely  false,  therefore  everything  must  go.  That  is  the 
way  in  a  panic,  whether  it  is  in  the  realm  of  ideas  or  in 
finance.  So  his  reading,  the  movement  of  his  mind,  his 
mental  environment,  tended  to  urge  him  to  sell  out  practically 
all  his  religious  beliefs  and  to  sell  very  cheaply.  Many  people 
do  this;  they  feel  uncertain,  then  proceed  to  let  everything 
go.  However,  this  man  called  a  halt.  He  found  he  could 
not  go  on  long  without  some  grip  upon  the  universe  of  which 
he  was  a  part. 

In  the  second  place,  he  had  become  keenly  aware  of  deeper 
needs  in  his  life.  He  was  possessed  by  a  depressing  solitude 
of  spirit.  A  certain  sense  of  aimlessness  haunted  his  efforts 
— a  tragic  consciousness  of  dissatisfaction — a  poignant  feel- 
ing of  personal  unworthiness,  and  of  inability  to  help  others 
in  their  nobler  longings.  All  these  gave  him  not  only  a  new 
mental  seriousness,  but  a  new  impatience  with  an  attitude 
of  mere  doubting.     The  needs  of  his  life  must  get  him  some- 

7 


[I-c]        UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

where  bej^Dnd  doubting.  He  found  that  the  road  to  belief  in 
God  had  very  real  difficulties,  but  also  that  unbelief  as  an 
alternative  was  far  worse.  And  there  the  battle  was  fought 
for  a  time,  back  and  forth  like  the  ebb  and  flow  of  a  tide. 

Third,  he  gradually  discovered  that  the  deepened  sense 
of  need  in  his  life  had  powerfully  affected  his  mental  outlook. 
That  outlook  became  greatly  changed  from  the  time  in  which 
he  merely  played  with  the  intellectual  aspect  of  religious 
problems.  He  found  that  the  mere  intellectualist  was  only 
half  a  man,  because  the  man  who  was  living  merely  in  the 
domain  of  thought,  and  not  also  of  life,  could  not  see  truth 
accurately  or  proportionately.  His  moral  needs  had  auto- 
matically affected  his  mental  processes.  He  realized  that  his 
mental  outlook  was  like  looking  through  a  telescope — it  had 
several  lenses,  and  it  had  various  possible  focuses — and  that 
these  conditions  were  determined  by  elements  in  personality 
deeper  than  thought;  that  what  one's  eyes  saw  was  according 
to  the  quality  and  condition,  the  number  and  focus  of  the 
lenses  of  the  telescope  through  which  one  mentally  looked. 

As  the  sense  of  the  deepest  needs  of  his  life  grezv,  the 
focus  of  his  intellectual  perceptions  had  changed,  and  changed 
very  greatly,  and  changed  very  quietly.  The  change  in  mental 
outlook  was  not  wrought  by  discussion,  but  by  a  change  of 
focus  in  the  elements  of  his  being.  So  that  he  fell  on  this 
important  discovery — that  the  condition  of  his  entire  per- 
sonality profoundly  and  unconsciously  affected  his  mental 
vision,  and  that  in  order  to  get  the  highest  knowledge  on 
the  highest  realities  in  the  universe  he  must  live  as  well  as 
think.  He  must  live  heroically  as  well  as  think  heroically. 
He  must  be  reverent  as  well  as  daring.  In  this  temper  he 
realized  that  his  former  mere  intellectuality  was  itself  lacking 
in  reasonableness  because  it  faced  a  problem  for  which  it 
had  not  the  ability.  He  had  tried  to  study  the  constellations 
with  only  one  lens  in  his  telescope. 

II 

But  now,  seeking  anew  for  God  with  the  earnest  purpose 
of  his  whole  personality,  he  found  in  the  world  outside  of 
himself,  first  of  all,  that  sane  men  and  women  testified  to 
knowing  God,  and  to  knowing  Him  in  the  most  vivid  zone 
of  their  consciousness.     And,  like  Descartes,  they  could  not 

8 


SEEKING  GOD  [I-c] 

get  away  from  trusting  the  reliability  of  their  consciousness. 
He  saw  that  history  was  human  experience  crystallized,  and 
that  human  experience  testified  to  the  sense  of  God  being 
a  supreme  human  fact.  He  realized  also  that  history  is  re- 
lated to  human  experience  as  physical  science  is  related  to 
the  facts  of  the  world,  and  that  therefore  the  message  of 
history  must  be  listened  to  in  this  matter.  And  when  a 
scientific  mind  like  the  late  William  James  gathered  the 
testimony  of  God-conscious  men  and  women  into  his  book 
on  ''Varieties  of  Religious  Experience,"  he  felt  that  he  was 
face  to  face  with  facts  as  real  as  those  which  a  physical 
scientist  gathered  from  nature. 

Second,  as  his  own  moral  sense  of  need  grezv  more  vivid, 
he  became  profoundly  aware  of  the  presence  of  a  moral 
obligation  within  him.  He  was  conscious  of  being  in  the 
grasp  of  an  obligation  to  be,  and  to  do,  and  not  to  do,  which 
drew  him  out  beyond  himself,  beyond  society,  to  a  Presence. 
And  that  was  not  only  his  own  experience.  As  a  student 
of  life  and  literature  he  found  that  great  literature  depicted 
men  who  were  deeply  conscious  of  moral  obligations  as 
reaching  out  into  the  unseen  for  solace,  help,  forgiveness. 
Those  who  have  been  the  true  prophets  in  literature  have 
invariably  interpreted  the  human  sense  of  moral  obligation 
as  the  movement  of  the  human  spirit  towards  its  moral 
creator.  They  have  depicted  the  intuitive  human  search  for 
God  as  personality  seeking  personality,  as  moral  need  crying 
out  for  the  source  of  its  satisfaction  and  renewal. 

"It  is  from  the  intense  consciousness  of  our  own  real  exist- 
ence as  persons  that  the  conception  of  reality  takes  its  rise 
in  our  minds.  It  is  through  that  consciousness  alone  that  we 
can  raise  ourselves  to  the  faintest  image  of  the  supreme 
reality  of  God,"  says  Mansel  in  his  third  Bampton  Lecture. 

Further,  this  seeker  for  God  also  saw  that  "the  heavens 
declare  the  glory  of  God  and  the  firmament  showeth  his 
handiwork."  He  not  only  found  his  own  moral  nature  lead- 
ing him  out  to  the  moral  creator  of  it,  but  he  saw  that  his 
own  power  of  reasoning  could  understand  the  mind  which 
is  expressed  in  the  laws  of  the  physical  world,  and  that 
consequently  the  rationality  in  himself  and  in  nature  must 
have  a  common  origin  behind  nature.  The  mind  that  can 
see  mind  in  the  phenomena  of  nature  demands  mind  as 
the  first  cause  of  both.     Like  Kepler  sweeping  the  heavens 

9 


[I-c]        UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

with  his  telescope,  he  could  say  of  God,  "I  am  thinking  Thy 
thoughts  after  Thee."  It  was  idle  to  say  that  evolution  ex- 
plained all,  for  evolution  is  only  a  method  of  doing  things. 
Evolution  is  only  a  secondary  cause,  but  a  second  cause  is 
not  an  answer  to  the  instinctive  human  quest  for  a  First 
Cause.  And  it  does  not  matter  how  far  in*  time  you  spread 
out  secondary  causes,  the  mind  goes  back  of  them  all  for 
a  primary  cause  that  is  sufficient  for  such  rational  effects. 
When  the  rationality  that  is  in  man  is  able  to  read  the  ration- 
ality that  is  in  nature,  as  one  reads  a  book,  it  points  to  a 
rationality  behind  both.  And  when  that  is  taken  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  moral  nature,  and  instinct,  and  experience  of 
man,  the  ultimate  reality  behind  all  phenomena  becomes  inter- 
pretable  as  God. 

At  last  there  came  to  our  inquiring  friend  a  personal  sure- 
ness  of  God — not,  indeed,  a  knowledge  of  God  as  he  is,  but 
a  certain  awareness  of  God  which  is,  and  ever  has  been, 
possible  for  those  who  seek  after  him.  In  the  nature  of  the 
case,  he  could  not  know  much  concerning  him,  through  the 
venture  of  the  finite  seeking  to  comprehend  the  infinite.  But 
he  was  sure  that  there  is  a  God.  He  was  conscious  of  a 
moral  presence,  and  that  is  much.  It  is  the  difference  between 
light  and  darkness.  It  is  the  difference  between  hope  and 
despair.  That  is  much,  but  it  is  not  enough.  Just  as  in  this 
world  the  sun  proclaims  the  time  of  day,  yet  in  order  to  live 
in  the  world  as  we  find  it,  in  order  to  meet  its  demands  and 
engagements;  we  are  dependent  upon  instruments  which  bring 
down  the  time  with  exactness  to  meet  our  needs,  so  while 
it  is  a  glorious  fact  to  know  that  there  is  a  God,  we  are 
dependent  upon  God's  revelation  of  himself  in  order  to  get 
the  knowledge  and  help  of  God  into  our  finite  lives  and  to 
get  our  bearings  in  our  human  and  divine  relations.  That 
is  just  what  many  lack.  They  believe  in  God.  They  are  in 
a  real  sense  sure  of  God,  but  the  message  of  the  Infinite  has 
not  yet  been  translated  to  the  needs  of  their  hearts.  The  man 
who  has  come  to  believe  in  God  has  much.  But  he  has  not 
all  that  he  needs.  He  has  not  a  sufficient  message  for  his 
own  life  or  for  other  lives.  He  may  have  ideals,  and  try 
hard  to  live  up  to  them.  He  has  a  sense  of  God,  and  a 
reverent  readiness  to  do  His  will  as  far  as  he  sees  it.  But 
he  has  a  feeling  that  there  is  still  much  more  divine  light, 
and  warmth,  and  power  that  should  be  his.     This  is  where 

10 


SEEKING  GOD  [I-c] 

very  many  people  stand  religiously.  They  believe  in  God 
and  are  trying  to  be  true  to  him.  They  struggle  on  bravely 
with  great  questions  unanswered,  deep  needs  unsatisfied,  and 
large  opportunities  unused.  They  are  genuine  men  and 
women  and  have  a  sense  of  •  God.  But  their  knowledge  is 
not  clear,  full,  rich;  it  does  not  reach  and  answer  the  funda- 
mental cravings  of  the  human  heart.  It  is  like  the  beginnings 
of  the  recognition  of  electricity,  or  of  wireless  communica- 
tion. It  is  vague,  uncertain.  There  is  something  there,  men 
say.  But  it  has  not  yet  been  definitely  brought  into  the 
service  of  humanity.  Benjamin  Franklin  with  his  kite  recog- 
nizing the  fact  of  electricity  is  one  thing;  the  lighting,  heat- 
ing, and  driving  of  factories  by  electricity  is  another  thing. 
So  there  is  an  elemental  knowledge  of  God  and  that  knowl- 
edge which  springs  from  taking  advantage  of  the  highest 
revelation  of  him. 


CHAPTER  II 

Recognizing  the  Highest  Light 
upon  God 

DAILY  READINGS 

Second  Week,  First  Day:  The  Insufficiency  of  the 
Independent  Search  for  God 

Should  not  the  multitude  of  words  be  answered? 
And  should  a  man  full  of  talk  be  justified? 
Should  thy  boastings  make  men  hold  their  peace? 
And    when    thou    mockest,    shall    no    man    make    thee 

ashamed? 
For  thou  sayest,  My  doctrine  is  pure. 
And  I  am  clean  in  thine  eyes. 
But  O  that  God  would  speak, 
And  open  his  lips  against  thee. 

And  that  he  would  show  thee  the  secrets  of  wisdom! 
For  he  is  manifold  in  understanding. 
Know  therefore  that  God  exacteth  of  thee  less  than  thine 

iniquity  deserveth. 
Canst  thou  by  searching  find  out  God? 
Canst  thou  find  out  the  Almighty   unto   perfection?— 

Job  II :  2-7. 

Suppose  an  electrical  inventor  were  to  assume  to  ignore 
all  that  has  taken  place  in  electrical  invention,  he  could  not 
go  far  in  his  work  for  the  practical  benefit  of  the  world. 
Suppose  an  architect  were  to  ignore  all  the  great  architectural 
movements,  he  could  not  be  of  the  highest  service.  The  man 
who  refused  to  use  roads  because  they  were  old,  and  inglori- 
ous battles  had  been  fought  upon  them,  insisting  upon  making 
his  own  roads,  would  not  have  sufficient  reason  for  his 
originality.  And  in  religion  men  must  take  account  of  the 
fact  that  God  has  been  revealing  himself,  and  such  revelation 
is  in  answer  to  human  need.     The  history  of  religion  cannot 

12 


THE  HIGHEST  LIGHT  [11-2] 

be  ignored,  especially  the  highest  expressions  of  it,  where 
it  definitely  professes  to  meet  the  fundamental  needs  of 
human  nature.  A  man  therefore  takes  his  own  guesses  far 
more  seriously  in  this  respect  than  he  dare  in  Hterature  or 
invention  or  science,  if  he  ignores  the  historical  story  of  reli- 
gion, and  ventures  to  evolve  his  own.  I  suspect  this  is  the 
position  which  Mr.  H.  G.  Wells  has  taken  in  his  brilliant  and 
candid  book,  "God  the  Invisible  King."  But  I  also  suspect 
that  if  Mr.  Wells  had  not  unconsciously  borrowed  from  the 
Christian  consciousness  of  his  time,  it  would  not  have  been 
so  easy  for  him  to  clothe  his  "Finite  God"  with  the  qualities 
ivith  which  he  endows  him.  Even  while  he  may  repudiate 
the  religious  findings  of  the  world  about  him,  he  cannot 
psychologically  get  away  from  making  them  part  of  the 
framework  for  his  new  venture.  Can  we  dispense  with  the 
recognition  of  progress  in  any  field,  and  especially  in  that 
one  which  deals  with  the  highest  equipment  of  character? 

Second  Week,  Second  Day:  God  Revealed  Himself 

Because  that  which  is  known  of  God  is  manifest  in  them; 
for  God  manifested  it  unto  them.  For  the  invisible  things 
of  him  since  the  creation  of  the  world  are  clearly  seen, 
being  perceived  through  the  things  that  are  made,  even 
his  everlasting  power  and  divinity;  that  they  may  be  with- 
out excuse. — Rom.  i:  19,  20. 

"Two  things  there  are,"  said  Kant,  "that  fill  me  zvith  awe — 
the  starry  heavens  above  me,  and  the  moral  law  within  me." 
Since  the  First  Cause  of  the  universe  is  a  rational  and  moral 
personality,  then  he  must  express  his  life  according  to  the 
content  of  his  being.  Every  living  thing  expresses  itself. 
Life  means  self-expression.  And  in  manifesting  himself  he 
must  necessarily  ever  completely  transcend  all  the  expressions 
of  himself.  Principal  Cairo  insisted  that  pantheism  deified 
the  finite  world,  for  it  locked  God  into  his  world;  while 
deism  locked  God  out  of  his  world,  and,  as  Professor  Seth 
observed,  has  thereby  made  God  finite,  "a  more  or  less  orna- 
mental appendage  in  the  scheme  of  things."  That  God  is 
above  his  world  is  proclaimed  by  the  highest  historical  reli- 
gious sense,  while  his  presence  in  the  world  is  inevitable 
from  the  very  fact  of  his  transcendence.  His  universe  is  the 
expression  of  him.     There  is  a  progressive  movement  in  the 

13 


[II-3]      UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

self-revelation  of  God.  He  has  revealed  himself  in  nature 
and  in  human  nature.  And  we  cannot  get  the  message  from 
God  for  man  except  as  we  put  the  emphasis  upon  the  message 
that  comes  through  man. 

"No  longer  half  akin  to  brute, 

For    all    we    thought    and    loved    and    did, 
And  hoped,  and  suffer'd,  is  but  seed 
Of  what  in  them  is  flower  and  fruit; 

Whereof  the  man,  that  with  me  trod 

This  planet  was  a  noble  type, 

Appearing  ere  the  times  were  ripe. 
That  friend  of  mine  who  lives  in  God, 

That  God  which  ever  lives  and  loves, 

One  God,  one  law,  one  element, 

And  one  far-off  divine  event 
To  which  the  whole  creation  moves." 

— Tennyson  :  "In  Memoriam." 

Second  Week,  Third  Day:  God  Revealed  Himself 
According  to  Human  Capacity 

Now  there  was  a  certain  man  in  Caesarea,  Cornelius  by 
name,  a  centurion  of  the  band  called  the  Italian  band,  a 
devout  man,  and  one  that  feared  God  with  all  his  house, 
who  gave  much  alms  to  the  people,  and  prayed  to  God 
always.  He  saw  in  a  vision  openly,  as  it  were  about  the 
ninth  hour  of  the  day,  an  angel  of  God  coming  in  unto  him, 
and  saying  to  him,  Cornelius.  And  he,  fastening  his  eyes 
upon  him,  and  being  affrighted,  said,  What  is  it,  Lord? 
And  he  said  unto  him,  Thy  prayers  and  thine  alms  are 
gone  up  for  a  memorial  before  God.  And  now  send  men  to 
Joppa,  and  fetch  one  Simon,  who  is  surnamed  Peter:  he 
lodgeth  with  one  Simon  a  tanner,  whose  house  is  by  the 
sea  side. — Acts  lo:  i-6. 

We  sometimes  hear  an  intelligent  person  say,  "One  religion 
is  as  good  as  another  religion,  at  least  for  the  people  who 
are  brougKt  up  in  it."  Of  course,  I  cannot  agree.  And  that 
person  would  not  carry  out  his  idea  in  things  outside  of 
religion.  He  believes  in  sending  a  better  sanitary  system,  and 
modern  agricultural  implements,  and  scientific  medicine,  to 
the  Oriental  countries.     Why?     Because  these  thing?  answer 

14 


THE  HIGHEST  LIGHT  [II-4] 

their  needs  better  than  the  things  they  have  been  using  for 
a  thousand  years.  Our  race  apparently  has  a  genius  for  that 
sort  of  thing,  and  we  should  ^ive  the  needs  of  the  world 
the  benefit  of  it.  Exactly.  And  in  the  same  way,  one  race 
and  many  individuals  in  it  have  had  a  genius  for  sensing 
the  revelations  of  God,  like  attuned  receivers  of  wireless 
messages.  And  those  messages  are  what  individuals  and 
races  need.  They  do  not  realize  it  to  be  the  thing  they  need, 
not  at  first,  any  more  than  a  town  in  inland  China  may  realize 
at  first  the  need  for  scientific  sanitation,  even  while  it  suffers 
from  a  smallpox  epidemic.  The  superiority  of  one  religion 
over  another  lies  in  the  measure  in  which  contains  the  larger, 
fuller  message  of  God  to  the  fundamental  needs  of  mankind. 
Is  any  less  than  the  best  good  enough?  Are  we  prepared  to 
receive  the  highest  light  without  prejudice,  and  are  we  also 
willing  to  communicate  it? 

Second  Week,  Fourth  Day:  God  Revealed  Down 
Through  the  Centuries 

And  Moses  said  unto  God,  Behold,  when  I  come  unto 
the  children  of  Israel,  and  shall  say  unto  them.  The  God 
of  your  fathers  hath  sent  me  unto  you;  and  they  shall  say 
to  me,  What  is  his  name?  what  shall  I  say  unto  them? 
And  God  said  unto  Moses,  I  am  that  I  am:  and  he  said. 
Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  I  am  hath 
sent  me  unto  you.  And  God  said  moreover  unto  Moses, 
Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  Jehovah, 
the  God  of  your  fathers,  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of 
Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob,  hath  sent  me  unto  you:  this  is 
my  name  for  ever,  and  this  is  my  memorial  unto  all  gener- 
ations. Go,  and  gather  the  elders  of  Israel  together,  and 
say  unto  them,  Jehovah,  the  God  of  your  fathers,  the  God 
of  Abraham,  of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob,  hath  appeared  unto 
me,  saying,  I  have  surely  visited  you,  and  seen  that  which 
is  done  to  you  in  Egypt. — Ex.  3:  13-16. 

The  counterpart  of  the  story  of  man  seeking  God  is  the 
story  of  God  revealing  himself  to  man.  We  cannot  ignore 
the  story  of  that  revelation  of  God  any  more  than  we  can 
ignore  the  story  of  the  progress  of  anj^thing  else  as  it  reaches 
up  to  the  needs  of  mankind  at  this  moment.  Who  would 
try  to  begin  the  story  of  English  literature  or  of  art  all 
over  again?     There  may  have  been  blunders  and  failures  in 

15 


[II-5]      UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

those  stories,  but  we  ignore  the  blunders  and  make  use  of 
the  highest  achievements.  Everything  in  the  v^orld  of  today 
that  is  helping  man  has  a  more  or  less  long  history  of  failure 
and  success,  and  we  enter  into  the  fruits  of  the  toil  and 
experience  of  those  who  have  brought  printing,  lighting,  food, 
machinery,  and  thousands  of  other  things  right  up  to  date 
for  our  immediate  human  needs'.  We  cannot  make  the  knowl- 
edge of  God  an  exception  to  this  reasonable  procedure.  God 
has  been  revealing  himself  to  men  through  the  ages.  And 
that  story  is  of  immense  value  in  the  living  of  life.  There 
have  been  false  ideas  incorporated  into  the  progressive  revela- 
tions, but  that  does  not  make  the  truth  ineffective. 

You  will  find  a  mixture  of  error  and  truth  in  geography, 
physiology,  and  in  every  other  department  of  thought.  It 
simply  demonstrates  that  it  takes  time  for  men  to  comprehend 
things  as  they  are.  And  therefore  the  revelation  of  God  to 
human  need  is  a  long  story  gradually  unfolded  to  the  compre- 
hension of  the  times.  Have  we  responded  to  the  progressive 
divine  revelation,  or  are  we  living  religiously  in  a  former 
^ge,  while  we  live  in  other  things  in  the  twentieth  century? 


Second  Week,  Fifth  Day :  The  Supreme  Revelation 

God,  having  of  old  time  spoken  unto  the  fathers  in  the 
prophets  by  divers  portions  and  in  divers  manners,  hath  at 
the  end  of  these  days  spoken  unto  us  in  his  Son,  whom  he 
appointed  heir  of  all  things,  through  whom  also  he  made 
the  worlds;  who  being  the  effulgence  of  his  glory,  and  the 
very  image  of  his  substance,  and  upholding  all  things  by 
the  word  of  his  power,  when  he  had  made  purification  of 
sins,  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high; 
having  become  by  so  much  better  than  the  angels,  as  he 
hath  inherited  a  more  excellent  name  than  they. — Heb. 
1 :  1-4. 


If  God  has  been  progressively  revealing  himself,  then  we 
look  for  a  highest  revelation.  There  are  supreme  examples 
in  painting,  literature,  architecture,  and  in  every  other  human 
pursuit.  No  man  can  be  interested  in  English  literature  and 
ignore  Shakespeare.  There  must  be  a  supreme  revelation  of 
God,  and  whoever  is  interested  in  knowing  God  must  be  in- 
terested in  the  supreme  revelation  of  him.    And  it  is  of  far 

16 


THE  HIGHEST  LIGHT  [II-6] 

'l 
more  consequence  that  we  should  be  interested  in  the  supreme 
revelation  of  God  than  in  any  other  subject,  because  it  has 
to  do  with  the  living  of  Hfe.  It  is  a  part  of  the  whole 
question  of  the  highest  fulfilment  of  our  destiny.  We  owe 
this  interest  not  only  to  ourselves,  but  to  our  family  relation- 
ships, to  our  associations  with  the  world,  to  our  tasks  in  life. 
It  is  not  merely  a  question  of  our  own  mood  toward  the 
subject.  It  is  a  question  of  relating  ourselves  to  the  highest 
God  has  revealed  in  order  to  be  at  our  best  to  our  fellow  men. 
Our  concern  to  bring  our  best  contribution  to  the  life  of  a 
changing  world,  is  vitally  connected  with  a  definite  interest 
in  the  supreme  revelation  of  God  to  man.  Why  is  the  "good" 
called  "the  enemy  of  the  best"?  Do  we  live  in  the  spirit  of 
desiring  the  highest? 

Second  Week,  Sixth  Day:  Who  Is  the  Supreme 
Revelation  o£  God? 

Now  when  Jesus  came  into  the  parts  of  Caesarea  Philippi, 
he  asked  his  disciples,  saying,  Who  do  men  say  that  the 
Son  of  man  is?  And  they  said,  Some  say  John  the  Baptist; 
some,  Elijah;  and  others,  Jeremiah,  or  one  of  the  prophets. 
He  saith  unto  them,  But  who  say  ye  that  I  am?  And 
Simon  Peter  answered  and  said,  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the 
Son  of  the  living  God. — Matt.  i6:  13-16. 

If  that  question  were  put  to  the  wisest,  the  best,  and  the 
most  useful,  as  well  as  to  the  great  masses  of  the  people, 
there  would  be  an  alm.ost  unanimous  answer.  As  the  supreme 
revelation  of  God,  Jesus  Christ  has  no  competitor,  according 
to  the  judgment  of  the  most  diverse  and  opposite  types  of 
men.  Jesus  Christ  as  a  supreme  revelation  is  definitely  and 
vividly  before  the  minds  of  vast  numbers  of  people  as  the 
highest,  clearest  vision  of  the  character  of  God,  and  as  the 
ideal  of  human  character. 

Some  writers,  like  J.  M.  Robertson  and  Drews,  venture  to 
doubt  that  Jesus  Christ  ever  existed.  But  such  men  do  not 
face  the  fact  that  the  portrait  of  Jesus  could  not  have  been 
drawn  out  of  the  human  imagination  by  the  combined  skill, 
or  genius,  of  the  entire  first  or  second  century.  They  also 
evade  the  fact  that  a  great  movement  like  the  Christian  Church 
could  spring  only  from  a  supreme  personality,  not  to  say  a 

17 


[II-7]      UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

single  word  about  the  historicity  of  the  Christian  records. 
Jesus  Christ  is  ineffaceably  before  the  human  mind.  He  is 
part  of  the  consciousness  of  the  world.  What  is  it  in  Jesus 
which  so  completely  compels  such  homage? 

Second  Week,  Seventh  Day:  Why  is  Jesus  Christ 
the  Supreme  Revelation  of  God? 

Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and 
I  will  give  you  rest.  Take  my  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of 
me;  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart:  and  ye  shall  find 
rest  unto  your  souls.  For  my  yoke  is  easy,  and  my  burden 
is  light. — Matt,  ii:  28-30. 

Jesus  Christ  is  the  supreme  revelation  of  God.  Not  because 
it  is  dogmatically  asserted  that  he  is,  hut  because  he  ansivers 
the  fundamental  needs  of  human  nature.  He  professes  to 
do  this,  and  multitudes  have  testified  that  he  has  done  it. 
What  are  the  fundamental  needs  of  human  nature?  Here 
are  some  of  them:  (i)  A  satisfying  vision  of  God.  (2)  A 
sense  of  divine  forgiveness.  (3)  Divine  companionship  and 
guidance  in  daily  living.  (4)  Power  in  order  to  turn  the 
antagonistic  facts  of  life  into  personal  victorious  strength 
and  progress.  (5)  A  motive  in  the  living  of  life  which 
shall  be  sufficient  to  guarantee  personal  growth,  industrious 
enterprise,  consistent  wit-h  the  rights  of  others  and  the  prog- 
ress of  the  world.  (6)  A  hope  for  the  future  which  recon- 
ciles the  human  spirit  to  supreme  trial  in  the  present,  bringing 
the  inspiration  of  the  eternal  into  the  duties  of  the  passing 
hour.  (7)  A  program  for  the  renewal  of  the  world,  the 
renewal  of  the  spirit  of  the  individual  being  the  means  of 
social  cohesion.  (8)  All  of  these,  not  merely  any  one  of  them 
alone,  but  together  focused  in  a  divine  presence,  and  com- 
municated to  lives,  not  academically,  but  by  the  impartation 
of  a  new  spirit. 

These  are  some  of  the  fundamental  needs  of  human  nature 
arrived  at  by  an  appeal  to  experience.  And  where  experience 
has  not  been  wholly  successful  in  appropriating  what  Christ 
has  to  give,  there  is  the  intuitive  sense  that  it  is  from  no 
lack  of  sufficiency  in  Christ.  It  is  that  conviction  which 
makes  hopefulness  for  the  life  of  tomorrow  possible.  Do 
you  recognize  any  really  fundamental  human  need  which 
Christ  does  not  answer f 

18 


THE  HIGHEST  LIGHT  [II-c] 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 


I  have  before  me  a  number  of  written  statements  from 
students  regarding  Jesus  Christ  as  the  supreme  revelation 
of  God.  These  statements  are  honest  difficulties.  But  every- 
one of  them  deals  with  something  which  is  not  essential  to 
the  heart  of  the  matter.  They  are  difficulties  arising  largely 
out  of  centuries  of  interpretation,  and  created  by  confusion 
of  mind  regarding  emphasis  upon  one  point  or  another  which 
is  not  vital  to  the  problem.  Keeping  in  mind  the  points 
raised  by  those  students,  let  me  try  to  face  a  few  central 
questions.  I  cannot  possibly  even  begin  to  answer  them  in 
the  space  at  my  disposal,  but  will  merely  try  to  indicate  a 
way  of  approach  to  the  personality  of  our  Lord. 

In  what  way  may  we  comprehend  Jesus  Christ  as  divine? 

(i)  He  was  divine  in  the  absolute  completeness  of  the 
identification  of  his  mind  with  the  mind  of  God,  of  his  heart 
with  the  love  of  God,  and  of  his  will  with  the  will  of  God. 
He  revealed  God  on  the  human  plane.  He  focused  the 
essence  of  the  character  of  God  in  human  life. 

(2)  He  was  divine  in  the  absolute  completeness  of  his 
identification  with  fundamental  human  need.  He  interpreted 
the  human  spirit  in  its  depths.  He  reached  beneath  the  racial, 
the  geographical,  the  sexual,  the  superficial,  and  the  accidental 
dift'erences,  and  answered  the  universal  and  abiding  cravings 
of  human  nature. 

(3)  He  was  divine  in  that  he  conquered  every  obstacle  that 
stood  in  the  way  of  his  bringing  the  sufficiency  of  God  to  the 
willing  and  responsive  human  heart.  He  brought  the  love, 
the  holiness,  the  forgiveness,  and  the  power  of  God  right  up 
to  the  threshold  of  individual  need. 

(4)  He  was  divine  in  that  he  survived  physical  death,  and 
his  living  spirit  became  the  creative  center  of  Christian 
character.  Men  and  women  who  had  known  him  before  his 
physical  death  continued  to  know  him  in  a  far  deeper  and 
more  effective  way  as  a  spiritual  presence.  We  cannot  get 
away  from  this  fact.  H  Jesus  Christ  as  an  actual,  spiritual, 
personal  Presence  had  not  continued  to  be  real  to  his  fol- 
lowers after  his  physical  death,  there  would  have  been  no 
Christianity  as  an  historical  fact  in  the  world.  The  spiritual 
presence  of  Jesus  Christ  was  as  real  to  those  early  disciples 

19 


[II-c]      UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

as  anything  else  in  the  world.  That  is  not  a  theory,  it  is  an 
indisputable  fact  in  human  experience,  verified  from  the 
profound  sureness  of  sane  men  and  women  of  the  abiding 
Presence. 

II 

What  is  the  heart  of  Christianity f  What  is  the  point  of 
contact  between  Christianity  and  human  need?  Is  it  the 
sermon  on  the  mount,  or  is  it  Jesus'  view  of  God,  or  is  it 
Jesus  as  an  ideal,  or  is  it  the  acceptance  of  a  certain  state- 
ment of  belief  regarding  Jesus,  or  is  it  something  else?  Let 
us  fasten  upon  this,  for  we  are  at  a  point  that  must  be 
clearly  understood.  A  great  deal  of  confusion  arises  just 
here.  Is  our  relation  to  Jesus  Christ  that  of  a  traveler  to  an 
actual  guide  and  companion?  What  is  the  heart  of  Chris- 
tianity? Who  is  to  be  the  judge  as  to  the  true  answer  to 
this  question?  It  seems  to  me  this  is  not  a  question  as  to 
what  you  think  or  what  I  think.  The  question  should  be 
answered  by  an  appeal  to  the  history  of  Christian  experience. 
When  we  turn  to  the  first  followers  of  Christ,  we  find  that 
the  heart  of  Christianity  for  them  consisted  in  an  actual 
relationship  to  the  spiritual  presence  of  their  Master  who  had 
survived  death.  Their  Christianity  was  primarily  a  deep 
spiritual  fellowship  with  a  Master  who  had  passed  beyond 
physical  limitations  to  a  spiritual  leadership  which  transcended 
space.  And  they  actually  knew  him  far  better,  and  they  knew 
his  aims  and  purposes  far  better,  in  their  purely  spiritual 
relationship  to  him,  than  they  did  in  the  days  of  his  flesh. 
This  is  historical  fact,  pure  and  simple.  For  suppose  that 
Jesus  after  his  death  had  not  become  an  actual  spiritual  pres- 
ence to  those  early  disciples,  what  would  have  happened? 
There  would  have  been  no  New  Testament,  there  would  have 
been  no  Christian  Church.  The  followers  of  Jesus  would 
have  gone  away  back  to  their  fishing  and  their  other  occupa- 
tions, with  hallowed  memories  in  their  disillusioned  lives. 
It  was  the  dominating  presence  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ  renew- 
ing their  lives,  giving  them  new  spiritual  experiences,  out  of 
which  the  literature  of  the  Testament  was  born.  Without 
the  creative  presence  of  the  living  Christ  energising  and 
illumining  willing  men,  the  story  of  the  sermon  on  the  mount, 
the  teaching  of  Jesus,  the  incidents  of  his  human  career  would, 
never  have  been  recorded.     Christianity  did  not  exist  as  an 

20 


THE  HIGHEST  LIGHT  [II-c] 

experience  and  a  testimony,  as  a  church,  and  as  a  literature 
until  the  spiritual  presence  of  Jesus  Christ  mastered  and 
illumined  the  lives  of  his  disciples.  This  was  not  merely 
the  view  of  any  one  apostle,  it  was  the  supreme  fact  behind 
the  full  sweep  of  apostolic  life  and  work.  The  centrality  of 
the  living  Spirit  of  Christ  has  been  the  supreme  secret  in 
the  lives  of  saints,  martyrs,  and  missionaries.  It  has  been 
the  triumphant  fact  in  hymns  and  devotional  literature  which 
have  been  the  inspiration  of  the  Church  for  centuries.  So 
that  the  heart  of  Christianity  in  the  light  of  history  is  the 
spiritual  presenc^of  Jesus  Christ.  The  Jesus  of  history  has 
fulfilled  the  conditions  and  has  won  the  place  of  the  spiritual 
leadership  of  the  human  race.  We  are  accustomed  to  the 
idea  of  those  who  win  places  of  leadership  in  every  depart- 
ment of  corporate  enterprise,  and  we  approach  the  various 
situations  of  life  through  those  leaders.  We  are  glad  to 
recognize  them  and  give  them  honor  and  to  meet  their  de- 
mands. Lo,  God  has  exalted  Jesus  Christ  to  be  the  Living 
Mediator  in  bringing  God  to  man  and  in  bringing  man  to  God. 


Ill 

Where  must  one  begin  in  seeking  to  knozv  Jesus  Christ? 
One  does  not  necessarily  begin  by  accepting,  by  believing,  all 
that  a  mature  Christian  may  believe.  It  seems  to  me  a  great 
injury  has  been  done  to  many  people  by  forcing  upon  their 
acceptance  much  that  may  be  true  enough,  and  necessary 
enough,  later  on.  But  to  insist  upon  it  as  necessary  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Christian  life  does  incalculable  harm.  If 
nature  moves  upwards  from  the  simple  to  the  complex,  why 
should  it 'not  be  so  in  the  natural  history  of  Christian  belief? 
If  Jesus  said:  'T  have  many  things  to  say  unto  you,  but  ye 
cannot  bear  them  now,"  may  we  not  say  it?  It  is  surely 
common  sense  that  one  who  has  been  following  Christ  for 
twenty  or  thirty  years  believes  more  than  one  who  is  just 
starting.  And  therefore  when  a  mature  Christian  tries  to 
point  the  way  to  a  seeker,  he  will  not  insist  upon  the  seeker's 
accepting  as  necessary  all  that  an  experienced  disciple  be- 
lieves. It  is  because  this  principle  has  not  been  sufficiently 
recognized  that  there  are  so  many  heart-breaking  difficulties 
in  the  minds  of  large  numbers  of  people  in  regard  to  Chris- 
tian belief. 

21 


[II-c]      UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

Christian  truth  is  not  all  on  the  same  level  of  immediate 
importance.  Christianity  has  primary  truth,  and  truth  which 
is  the  outgrowth  of  primary  truth.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
accept  this  secondary  truth,  before  it  has  become  real  to  you 
through  the  acceptance  and  growth  of  primary  truth.  There 
is  one  central  creative  reality  in  Christianity.  And  from 
association  with  the  living  spirit  of  Christ,  who  is  that 
creative  center,  other  Christian  truths  spring,  as  apples  grow 
on  a  healthy  apple  tree.  But  some  have  been  told  they  must 
have  the  apples  on  the  tree  even  before  the  blossoms  have 
had  time  to  appear,  which  is  .very  discour^ng. 

But  have  we  definitely  tried  to  find  a  way  of  approach  to 
Jesus  Christ,  and  are  we  continuing? 


22 


CHAPTER  III 

How  is  Christ  Made  Real  to  Us? 

DAILY  READINGS 

Third  Week,  First  Day:   The  Testimony  of  the 
New  Testament  Regarding  Jesus  Christ 

Ye  search  the  scriptures,  because  ye  think  that  in  them 
ye  have  eternal  Hfe;  and  these  are  they  which  bear  witness 
o£  me;  and  ye  will  not  come  to  me,  that  ye  may  have  life. 
—John  5 :  39,  40. 

We  all  feel  that  we  know  certain  characters  because  we 
have  read  of  them.  That  is  all  we  know  of  some  great  souls 
whose  personalities  haunt  us.  We  read  and  reread  the 
story  of  their  lives,  and  we  know  them  better  than  some 
people  we  meet  every  day.  The  New  Testament  reveals  to 
us  the  personality  of  Jesus  Christ.  One  among  many  differ- 
ences between  the  New  Testament  and  other  biographies  is 
that  while  other  books  close  with  the  physical  death  of  their 
heroes,  the  New  Testament  continues  the  story  of  the  activity 
and  enterprise,  through  the  lives  of  men,  of  the  Spirit  of 
Jesus  Christ  after  his  physical  death.  It  is  unfortunate  that 
when  some  people  read  the  New  Testament  for  a  view  of 
Christ  they  become  involved  in  discussion  over  some  detail 
in  the  story  and  lose  sight  of  the  presence  behind  the  story. 
Of  course,  there  is  a  real  place  for  criticism.  But  is  it  not 
greatly  overdone?  I  went  to  an  art  exhibition  on  one  occa- 
sion with  a  very  brilliant  artist,  and  his  art  criticism  was  so 
keen  and  interesting  and  incessant  that  my  imagination  did 
not  get  much  opportunity  to  receive  the  message  of  the  pic- 
tures. The  New  Testament  is  a  portrait  of  a  supreme  per- 
sonality. It  is  a  hint,  a  clue,  a  suggestion,  a  revelation. 
Therefore,  it  is  the  impression  it  gives  as  a  whole  with  which 
we  are  concerned  in  the  first  instance.  The  New  Testament 
in  detail  presents  problems  hard  to  solve.    But  there  is  enough 

23 


[III-2]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

of  a  general  impression  of  Christ  as  a  person  to  lead  us  on 
from  the  portrait  in  the  Scriptures  to  him  who  is  greater  than 
the  portrait.  If  we  wish  to  get  a  vivid  view  of  a  picture, 
we  do  not  stand,  too  close  to  it.  We  do  not  look  at  the 
brush  work  with  a  microscope.  The  artistic  judge  who 
awards  the  prize  may  have  to  do  that,  but  it  is  not  the  task 
of  the  plain  man,     Sterne  says  in  "Tristram  Shandy" : 

"And  how  did  Garrick  speak  the  soliloquy  last  night? — Oh, 
against  all  rule,  my  Lord, — most  ungrammatically !  betwixt 
the  substantive  and  the  adjective,  which  should  agree  together 
in  number,  case,  and  gender,  he  made  a  breach  thus, — stop- 
ping, as  if  the  point  wanted  settling; — and  betwixt  the  nomi- 
native case,  which  your  lordship  knows  should  govern  the 
verb,  he  suspended  his  voice  in  the  epilogue  a  dozen  times 
three  seconds  and  three  fifths  by  a  stop-watch,  my  Lord,  each 
time. — Admirable  grammarian  ! — But  in  suspending  his  voice 
— was  the  sense  suspended  likewise?  Did  no  expression  of 
attitude  or  countenance  fill  up  the  chasm? — Was  the  eye 
silent?  Did  you  narrowly  look? — I  looked  only  at  the  stop- 
watch, my  Lord. — Excellent  observer  !" 

In  our  relation  to  the  New  Testament  are  we  merely  critical 
or  are  we  looking  for  a  presence?  Have  we  ever  given  the 
Jesus  of  the  gospels  a  real  chance  to  make  his  own  impres- 
sion upon  us? 

Third    Week,    Second    Day:    The    Testimony    o£ 
Christians  Regarding  Jesus  Christ 

That  which  was  from  the  beginning,  that  which  we  have 
heard,  that  which  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  that  which 
we  beheld,  and  our  hands  handled,  concerning  the  Word 
of  life  (and  the  life  was  manifested,  and  we  have  seen,  and 
bear  witness,  and  declare  unto  you  the  life,  the  eternal  life, 
which  was  with  the  Father,  and  was  manifested  unto  us) ; 
that  which  we  have  seen  and  heard  declare  we  unto  you 
also,  that  ye  also  may  have  fellowship  with  us:  yea,  and 
our  fellowship  is  with  the  Father,  and  with  his  Son  Jesus 
Christ. — I  John  i:  1-3. 

The  testimony  of  straightforward  men  as  witnesses  has 
always  had  a  powerful  influence  with  an  honest  jury.  The 
frank  statement  of  a  witness  has  many  a  time  smashed  the 
sophistries  of  an  attorney.     And  it  is  upon  the  witness  that 

24 


HOW  IS  CHRIST  MADE  REAL  TO  US?    [III-3] 

Christ  has  ahvays  rested  his  case.  "Ye  are  my  witnesses." 
Some  of  the  most  exalted  souls  who  ever  lived  on  this  planet, 
some  of  the  most  intellectually  acute,  some  of  the  most  ex- 
perienced in  life,  some  of  the  most  radically  changed,  have 
borne  their  witness  that  they  actually  knew  Jesus  Christ. 
They  testified  not  merely  to  their  belief  that  he  once  lived 
on  the  earth,  or  that  they  accepted  his  teaching,  but  they 
affirmed  that  his  real  presence  changed  their  lives — that  he 
was  their  comrade  on  the  open  road.  This  declaration  has 
come  not  only  from  men  and  women  of  the  first  century, 
but  from  transfigured  lives  through  all  the  centuries  from 
that  day  to  this.  And  this  testimony  has  issued  from  the 
most  hallowed  hours  and  scenes.  It  has  been  uttered  in  the 
midst  of  life's  supreme  trials.  It  has  been  whispered  in 
farewells.  It  has  leapt  from  the  souls  of  men  who  had  been 
broken,  and  restored  by  the  healing  presence.  It  has  been 
the  secret  of  tens  of  thousands  of  romantic  sacrifices.  It 
has  been  the  conviction  expressed  by  strong  fathers  when 
lads  have  gone  out  from  home  to  fight  the  great  fight.  Let 
us  not  forget  that  this  message  from  historical  Christian 
experience  is  one  of  the  great  facts  in  the  life  of  the  world, 
even  at  this  present  moment.    As  Browning  declares : 

"That  one  Face,   far   from  vanish,   rather  grows, 
Or   decomposes   but  to   recompose, 
Become  my  universe  that  feels  and  knows." 

What  is  the  peculiar  value  of  such  testimony? 

Third  Week,  Third  Day :  Jesus  Christ  Made  Real 
Through  Lives  Which  Suggest  Him 

Now  v^hen  they  beheld  the  boldness  of  Peter  and  John, 
and  had  perceived  that  they  were  unlearned  and  ignorant 
men,  they  marvelled;  and  they  took  knowledge  of  them,- 
that  they  had  been  with  Jesus.  And  seeing  the  man  that 
was  healed  standing  with  them,  they  could  say  nothing 
against  it. — Acts  4:  13,  14. 

There  are  few  influences  which  act  more  powerfully  upon 
the  human  personality  than  suggestion.  It  rouses  the  will. 
It  inspires  emotion.  'The  sight  of  his  country's  flag  in  a 
foreign  land  stirs  the  soul  of  a  homesick  traveler.  Suggestion 
led  the  imagination  of  Newton  up  to  the  idea  of  universal 


[III-4]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

gravitation.     It  is  not  only  the  inspiration   of   science,  it  is 
the  soul  of  art 

In  the  same  way,  those  who  have  known  Jesus  Christ  and 
have  entered  into  companionship  with  him,  unconsciously 
suggest  him  to  others.  Something  that  has  come  from 
■Christ  shining  through  a  character  suggests  the  living  Master. 
It  may  be  a  very  small  thing,  nothing  more  than  a  look,  a 
tone  of  voice,  or  it  may  be  the  atmosphere  which  a  person 
carries.  It  may  be  the  shining  of  some  grace  like  patience, 
or  humility,  or  sacrifice,  or  purity,  or  courage.  And  the  eiffect 
of  seeing  it  is  to  drive  the  mind  to  Jesus  Christ.  I  saw  a 
man  once  for  a  few  minutes  more  than  twenty  years  ago 
and  I  never  think  of  him  but  Christ'  looms  up  behind  the 
vision  of  that  man.  The  actual  visible  form  of  Christ  behind 
the  figure  of  Phillips  Brooks  on  Copley  Square  in  Boston 
may  not  appeal  to  us.  But  the  idea  is  sound.  I  am  sure  that 
very  many  people  came  to  believe  in  the  actual  spiritual 
presence  of  the  Master  through  the  personality,  not  to  speak 
of  the  preaching,  of  Phillips  Brooks.  I  have  heard  more 
than  one  man  confess  that  his  faith  in  Christ  was  retained 
through  periods  of  storm  and  stress  by  the  divine  suggestive- 
ness  of  a  parent's  life.  Have  we  given  the  suggestion  of 
Christ  through  human  lives  the  place  in  our  life  which  we 
give  the  suggestion  of  other  things? 


Third    Week,    Fourth    Day:    Christ    Made    Real 
Through  Personal  Test 

And  they  come  to  Jericho:  and  as  he  went  out  from 
Jericho,  with  his  disciples  and  a  great  multitude,  the  son 
of  Timiaeus,  Bartimseus,  a  blind  beggar,  was  sitting  by  the 
way  side.  And  when  he  heard  that  it  was  Jesus  the  Naza- 
rene,  he  began  to  cry  out,  and  say,  Jesus,  thou  son  of 
D.avid,  have  mercy  on  me.  And  many  rebuked  him,  that 
he  should  hold  his  peace:  but  he  cried  out  the  more  a  great 
deal.  Thou  son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  me.  And 
Jesus  stood  still,  and  said,  Call  ye  him.  And  they  call  the 
blind  man,  saying  unto  him.  Be  of  good  cheer:  rise,  he 
calleth  thee.  And  he,  casting  away  his  garrnent,  sprang 
up,  and  came  to  Jesus.  And  Jesus  answered  him,  and  said. 
What  wilt  thou  that  I  should  do  unto  thee?  And  the  blind 
man  said  unto  him,  Rabboni,  that  I  may  receive  my  sight. 
And  Jesus  said  unto  him.  Go  thy  way;  thy  faith  hath  made 

26 


HOW  IS  CHRIST  MADE  REAL  TO  USf    [III-5] 

thee  whole.     And  straightway  he  received  his  sight,  and 
followed  him  in  the  way. — Mark  10:  46-52. 

This  blind  man  had  heard  of  Jesus,  but  of  course  had  never 
seen  him.  He  had  enough  evidence,  however,  from  others 
to  put  Jesus  to  the  test,  with  the  result  that  the  testimony 
of  others  was  changed  into  a  personal  experience  which  veri- 
fied the  testimony  as  true. 

We  are  constantly  putting  reports  regarding  people  and 
things  to  the  proof  by  a  personal  venture.  It  is  the  Way  we 
live,  it  is  the  way  of  progress^  If  we  did  not  do  this,  we 
would  never  make  any  new  friends,  we  would  not  expand 
our  relationships  with  anything.  Our  world  would  become 
smaller,  and  not  larger.  A  great  deal  of  testimony  is  not 
necessary  in  order  to  try  out  something  for  ourselves.  When 
some  one  tells  us  of  another  person  he  thinks  can  help  us 
in  some  perplexity,  the  testimony  may  be  very  slender  md 
unsatisfactory,  but  we  say:  "Let  us  try  and  see  what  comes 
of  it."  After  that  venture  we  give  our  opinion  of  the  worth 
of  the  testimony. 

In  the  same  way,  there  is  first  of  all  a  testimony  regarding 
Christ,  then  there  is  a  personal  experience  of  him.  Testimony 
is  a  temporary  basis  for  faith,  while  personal  experience  is 
the  permanent  basis  for  faith. 

There  are  two  questions  for  us  to  answer  to  our  own  satis- 
faction. The  first  question  is :  "Is  there  enough  testimony 
regarding  Jesus  Christ  to  put  him  to  the  proof?"  The  second 
question  is :  "Is  my  need  sore  enough  to  compel  me  to  make 
the  experiment?" 

Third    Week,    Fifth    Day:     Christ    Made    Real 
Through  the  Eclipse  o£  Other  Things 

Martha  therefore  said  unto  Jesus,  Lord,  if  thou  hadst  been 
here,  my  brother  had  not  died.  And  even  now  I  know  that, 
whatsoever  thou  shalt  ask  of  God,  God  will  give  thee. 
Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Thy  brother  shall  rise  again.  Martha 
saith  unto  him,  I  know  that  he  shall  rise  again  in  the  resur- 
rection at  the  last  day.  Jesus  said  unto  her,  I  am  the 
resurrection,  and  the  life:  he  that  believeth  on  me,  though 
he  die,  yet  shall  he  live;  and  whosoever  liveth  and  be- 
lieveth on  me  shall  never  die.  Believest  thou  this?  She 
saith  unto  him,  Yea,  Lord:  I  have  believed  that  thou  art 

27 


IIII-6]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  even  he  that  cometh  into  the 
world. — John  ii:  21-27. 

While  living  in  Lausanne  for  a  brief  period  some  years  ago, 
I  found  that  in  the  glorious  view  from  my  window  there  were 
villages  on  the  French  side  of  the  Lake  of  Geneva  nestling 
at  the  foot  of  the  Savoy  Mountains,  which  I  could  see  only 
on  dull  days.  In  the  bright  sunshine  they  were  invisible. 
So  there  are  dark  days  in  human  experience  in  which  the 
presen(?e  of  Christ  becomes  marvelously  real.  We  sometimes 
hear  in  these  tragic  days  severely  academic  philosophers  say 
that  through  stern  concrete  facts  they  are  seeing  realities 
never  comprehended  by  study. 

I  have  known  a  brilliant  agnostic  who,  passing  through  a 
certain  experience,  suddenly  realized  Jesus  Christ  as  a  pres- 
ence with  a  simplicity  and  clearness  that  reminded  me  at  once 
of  the  experience  of  Saul  of  Tarsus. 

Life  is  a  great  revealer.  It  readjusts  our  emphasis.  It 
gives  a  new  proportion  to  the  intellect  in  its  relation  to  the 
rest  of  personality.  It  suffuses  the  mind  with  a  new  light 
from  the  deeper  elements  of  our  being.  Some  things  which 
had  stood  in  the  foreground  of  our  concern  and  ambition 
are  suddenly  thrown  into  the  shade  without  any  discussion. 
Nobody  had  spoken,  there  was  no  argument,  but  the  whole 
scene  of  life  was  changed  and  rearranged.  Things  that  had 
been  terribly  real  became  almost  unreal,  while  a  Presence 
that  had  been  unreal  became  a  glorious  and  dominating  and 
comforting  reality.  At  what  times  in  my  life  has  Jesus 
Christ  seemed  most  real  to  me? 

Third    Week,    Sixth    Day:    Christ    Made    Real 
Through  Concern  for  Others 

And  behold,  there  x:ame  a  man  named  Jairus,  and  he  was 
a  ruler  of  the  synagogue:  and  he  fell  down  at  Jesus*  feet, 
and  besought  him  to  come  into  his  house;  for  he  had  an 
only  daughter,  about  twelve  years  of  age,  and  she  was 
dying.  But  as  he  went  the  multitudes  thronged  him. — 
Luke  8:  41,  42. 

Have  you  ever  observed  how  some  men  change  and  soften 
in  their  religious  attitude  when  the  spiritual  needs  of  their 
children  begin  to  grip  them?     They  had  perhaps  no  definite 

28 


HOW  IS  CHRIST  MADE  REAL  TO  US?    [HI-?] 

sense  of  need  for  themselves,  but  the  questions,  the  problems, 
the  longings,  of  helpless  young  lives  looking  to  them  for  help, 
stung  them  into  seriousness. 

They  could  not  drag  those  eager  children  through  the  argu- 
ments by  which  they  had  been  led  from  confusion  to  con- 
fusion in  the  days  of  their  early  tw^enties.  "There  was  a 
good  deal  of  feverish  unreality  about  it  all,"  I  have  heard 
more  than  one  of  this  type  of  man  say,  with  a  reminiscent 
look  in  the  eyes.  And  since  that  time,  life  has  been  teaching 
them  some  things.  It  is  in  some  such  circumstances  I  can  see 
a  sobered  man  of  thirty-five  reading  the  story  of  Jesus,  and 
then  awkwardly  kneeling  down  with  his  little  family  in  the 
honest  longing  to  have  the  Presence  enlighten  and  protect 
that  precious  charge  committed  to  his  manly  care. 

I  am  not  here  making  light  of  the  days  of  youthful  doubt, 
but  would  simply  remind  that  lovable,  eager  youth  of  twenty 
with  whom  I  have  a  profound  sympathy,  that  there  are  other 
influences  upon  spiritual  understanding  besides  discussion, 
that  will  some  day  have  their  place  in  his  thoughts.  When 
I  am  called  upon  to  help  others,  what  have  I  to  give? 

Third    Week,    Seventh    Day:     Christ  Made  Real 
Through  Dispelling  False  Impressions 

And  Nathanael  said  unto  him,  Can  any  good  thing  come 
out  of  Nazareth?  Philip  saith  unto  him.  Come  and  see. 
Jesus  saw  Nathanael  coming  to  him,  and  saith  of  him. 
Behold,  an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom  is  no  guile!  Nathan- 
ael saith  unto  him,  Whence  knowest  thou  me?  Jesus 
answered  and  said  unto  him,  Before  Philip  called  thee, 
when  thou  wast  under  the  fig  tree,  I  saw  thee.  Nathanael 
answered  him.  Rabbi,  thou  art  the  Son  of  God;  thou  art 
King  of  Israel. — John  i :  46-49, 

Nathanael  heard  a  remarkable  testimony  in  favor  of  Jesus, 
but  he  was  strongly  inclined  to  reject  it  instantly.  The  rea- 
son for  this  was  the  temptation  to  look  at  Jesus  through  the 
bad  reputation  of  the  town  in  which  he  lived. 

The  impulse  in  the  mind  of  Nathanael  was  to  cancel  the 
testimony  of  a  good  man  regarding  Jesus  through  holding 
on  to  a  popular  prejudice.  It  was  only  as  he  listened  to 
persuasion  to  get  behind  the  unsavory  reputation  of  Nazareth, 

2Q 


[III-c]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

and  to  look  squarely  at  Jesus  as  he  was  in  Himself  that  the 
light  broke  upon  his  mind. 

This  is  perhaps  the  supreme  difficulty  on  the  part  of  very 
many  in  our  day.  They  are  prejudiced  by  real  or  imaginary 
facts  which  stand  between  them  and  Jesus  Christ.  There  is 
a  tissue  of  preconceived  false  notions,  of  misrepresentations, 
of  caricatures,  obscuring  the  Master's  presence. 

The  problem  is  to  get  behind  those  misleading  associations, 
which  are  no  more  a  part  of  Christ  than  the  particles  of  dust 
are  part  of  the  sunbeam  in  which  they  dance.  The  sunbeam 
does  not  create  the  dust,  nor  can  the  dust  contaminate  the 
sunbeam. 

So  the  soul  of  real  Christianity  is  Christ,  and  Christ  is  not 
coextensive  with  all  that  is  called  Christian  civilization,  or 
with  conventional  Christianity.  It  is  the  privilege  of  those 
who  have  a  definite  experience  of  Christ  to  lead  seekers 
beyond  Nazareth  to  the  Creative  Presence.  How  can  we 
clear  our  minds  of  false  ideas  of  Jesus  Christ? 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 


The  face  of  Christ  is  eclipsed  for  some  by  actual  concrete 
historical  facts  which  have  produced  prejudices.  There  are 
prejudices  against  the  reality  of  Christ  zvhich  have  been  in- 
spired by  inconsistent  professing  Christians  and  by  wrangling 
Christian  churches.  The  failure  of  organized  Christianity  to 
wipe  out  vice,  drunkenness,  and  strife  of  all  kinds  from  the 
life  of  Christendom  has  been  damaging.  Some  practical 
critics  judge  Christ  by  what  has  issued  out  from  professed 
association  with  him  into  the  stream  of  corporate  human  life 
during  these  so-called  Christian  centuries. 

The  facts  which  inspire  this  prejudice  are  terribly  true. 
But  Christ  is  not  to  blame  for  them.  It  is  a  first  principle 
in  the  activity  of  Christ  that  he  must  have  the  cooperation 
of  the  individual  and  corporate  will.  He  cannot  compel  indi- 
viduals to  do  his  will.  He  will  not,  he  cannot  coerce  men. 
For  it  is  his  purpose  to  develop  souls  and  not  to  make  mere 
chattels.  Those  who  really  know  Christ,  and  know  them- 
selves, do  not  blame  him  for  their  failures.  They  have  a  deep 
conviction  that  all  their  shortcomings  have  arisen  through 
their  own   indolence,   cowardice,   or   hypocrisy.     They  know 

30 


HOW  IS  CHRIST  MADE  REAL  TO.  USF    [III-c] 

that  whenever  they  rise  to  his  challenge,  his  power  and  pur- 
pose cooperate  with  their  willingness  to  achieve  victory  in 
life.  In  regard  to  the  corporate  failure  of  Christianity,  there 
never  has  been  a  real  and  lasting  large  corporate  historical 
opportunity  given  to  Jesus  Christ  in  the  Christian  centuries 
to  unfold  his  program  for  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God, 

Somehow  or  other,  as  early  as  the  sub-apostolic  period, 
corporate  Christianity  began  to  receive  a  serious  twist;  it 
failed  to  carry  out  its  original  pattern  and  spirit  and  power. 
There  were  great  souls  and  there  were  great  movements. 
But  the  original  corporate  pattern  was  tampered  with.  The 
Reformation,  with  all  its  great  emphasis  upon  forgotten 
truth,  did  not  recover  the  whole  range  of  the  Christian  order 
of  things.  The  Protestant  Reformation  was  a  protest.  It 
could  not  in  the  nature  of  the  case  grasp  the  entire  situation 
and  readjust  it.  It  was  a  partial  movement,  and  the  trouble 
with  much  of  Protestantism  since  then  has  been  to  make 
a  fetish  of  that  partial  movement,  instead  of  a  starting  point 
for  a  comprehensive  and  persistent  progressive  recovery  of 
the  real  mind  of  Christ  for  the  individual  and  the  whole  of 
society. 

The  condition  of  the  modern  world  is  a  challenge  to  indi- 
viduals and  to  the  churches,  to  give  Christ  a  fresh  chance 
to  live  through  them,  to  embody  his  program.  Christ  still 
has  the  power,  he  still  has  the  plan  for  the  coming  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  when  we  as  individuals  and 
churches  will  cease  to  think  self  and  begin  to  think  Christ 
and  to  will  his  will.  It  is  that  conviction  which  makes  the 
thought  of  the  future  not  only  tolerable,  but  hopeful,  for 
perhaps  we  are  learning  our  lesson  through  our  disillusions. 
We  Christians  say  to  the  critics  who  have  a  prejudice  against 
Christ  because  of  the  awful  state  of  the  world — it  is  not 
Christ's  fault.  It  is  the  fault  of  the  arrogance,  the  stupidity, 
the  self-centered  provincialism  of  individuals  and  Christian 
communities.  "Can  any  good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth? 
Come  and  see." 

II 

There  are  prejudices  against  the  reality  of  Jesus  Christ  he- 
cause  of  intellectual  statemoits  concerning  his  personality, 
through  which  some  think  they  must  approach  him,  and  they 


[III-c]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

cannot  do  it.  There  are  men  who  are  embarrassed  by  defini- 
tions, and  who  are  aHenated  by  a  dogmatism  which  is  alto- 
gether foreign  to  the  experience  and  teaching  of  the  men  of 
the  New  Testament. 

When  we  notice  how  the  men  of  the  New  Testament  handled 
the  difficulties  of  seekers  regarding  their*  Lord,  we  realize  that 
many  of  us  are  entirely  on  the  wrong  track.  When  Philip 
dealt  with  Nathanael,  he  immediately  appealed  to  personal 
experience. 

None  of  the  New  Testament  characters  made  Jesus  Christ 
their  master  out  of  a  definition  regarding  him.  Their  devo- 
tion was  always  the  result  of  a  personal  venture  of  faith,  a 
personal  intimacy.  There  is  of  course  a  place  for  definition, 
there  is  a  place  for  credal  statements — it  may  be  a  great 
place.  But  the  present  point  is  that  we  have  no  right  dog- 
matically to  thrust  a  credal  statement  upon  any  man  as  a 
preliminary  necessity.  It  is  not  in  the  New  Testament.  It 
is  not  in  the  experience  of  the  men  who  wrote  the  New 
Testament.  The  credal  statement  was  and  is  the  outgrowth 
of  experience  and  not  the  creator  of  experience.  A  creed 
is  for  the  mature  and  not  for  the  immature.  If  you  tell  a 
sick  man  that  you  believe  a  certain  physician  can  perform  a 
complete  cure,  but  that  he  must  try  the  experiment  for  him- 
self, you  are  not  dogmatically  demanding  the  acceptance  of 
a  creed  regarding  the  doctor,  you  are  simply  urging  a  personal 
trial  of  him.  Besides,  a  personal  trial  is  a  far  more  vital 
thing  than  the  mere  inactive  assent  to  what  other  people 
have  said,  and  then  doing  nothing  more  about  it. 

The  testimony  of  the  Bible,  and  of  its  great  Christians,  is 
all  directed  towards  getting  men  not  primarily  to  accept  a 
creed,  but  to  make  a  venture.  When  the  venture  has  been 
made  is  time  for  the  creed.  And  then  that  personal  permanent 
living  creed  comes  out  of  the  soul's  experience. 

Therefore,  apart  from  definitions,  apart  from  all  the  differ- 
ent places  of  emphasis  upon  which  one  and  another  insist 
in  the  historical  record  of  the  human  history  of  Jesus  Christ, 
there  is  enough  to  put  him  to  the  proof.  There  is  enough 
general  evidence  to  make  a  particular  venture.  And  after 
the  venture  one  may  go  back  and  vindicate  the  historical 
record,  having  some  real  experience  with  which  to  do  it.  I 
am  strongly  convinced  that  this  is  the  New  Testament  atti- 
tude. 

32 


HOW  IS  CHRIST  MADE  REAL  TO  USf    [III-c] 

In  taking  up  a  dififerent  attitude,  we  play  into  the  hands 
of  mere  scholasticism,  which  tends  to  drag  the  whole  ques- 
tion out  of  the  realm  of  a  personal  venture  and  to  leave  it  in 
the  realm  of  academic  discussion,  for  which  most  people 
have  neither  the  ability,  nor  the  time,  nor  the  inclination. 
Hence  the  indifference  of  some  to  the  whole  matter. 

/  am  convinced  further  that  the  men  of  the  New  Testament 
were  concerned  in  the  first  instance  only  with  getting  their 
fellozvmen  into  a  personal  relation  zvith  the  living  Christ, 
and  not  with  the  great  truths  which  grew  out  of  association 
with  Christ.  They  made  a  clear  difference  between  the  truth 
that  went  before  a  Christian  experience  and  the  truth  that 
flamed  from  it. 

Unfortunately  in  our  day  a  great  many  people  have  no  such 
clear  understanding  of  the  Christian  situation.  They  insist 
upon  putting  all  Christian  truth  on  the  same  level,  to  be 
accepted  by  the  same  person  all  at  once,  and  if  the  seeker 
hesitates  he  is  immediately  under  suspicion.  That  is  not 
only  cruel,  it  is  treason  to  the  way  of  the  New  Testament. 
In  the  New  Testament  there  is  only  one  central,  creative 
reality  and  that  is  the  living  presence  of  Christ.  All  the 
teaching  of  the  Epistles  is  an  outgrowth.  To  insist  that  a 
man  shall  show  his  .apple  harvest  when  he  is  just  planting 
his  apple  trees  is  both  nonsense  and  tyranny.  Our  real 
creed  is  not  made  for  us  beforehand,  it  is  made  by  the  victory 
of  the  divine  life  working  in  us  and  through  us. 


Ill  ^ 

There  is  another  attitude  which  threatens  the  permanent 
estrangement  of  some  from  the  living  personality  of  Christ. 
Like  the  first  disciples  of  Christ,  on  the  evening  of  that  first 
Good  Friday,  they  think  of  him  as  dead  and  buried. 

There  are  people  who  think  that  historical  biblical  criticism 
and  an  evolutionary  process  in  the  world  have  made  a  living 
Saviour  impossible.  They  are  sorry,  but  their  faith  has  had 
to  go.  They  loved  that  glorious  vision  in  the  days  of  their 
childish  simplicity  and  credulity,  but  it  has  been  done  to 
death  since  by  the  learning  of  the  world,  of  which  they  have 
absorbed  a  little  here  and  there.  They  are  not  at  all  aggres- 
sive, they  are  quiet,  hesitant,  detached.  They  rarely  speak 
of  it,  and  when  they  do  they  are  not  harsh.     Some  of  them 


[III-c]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

are  most  lovable  men.  Their  tragic  mistake  is  that  they 
think  learning  has  buried  a  Presence.  They  might  be  right, 
if  belief  were  wholly  dependent  upon  mere  academic  demon- 
stration. But  that  is  not  even  good  science.  For  science 
begins  with  facts  and  not  with  theories.  Scientific  theories 
are  evolved  from  the  facts  of  nature.  And  so  there  are  also 
Christian  facts.  Unfortunately  they  are  not  as  plentiful  as 
they  should  be,  and  that  is  the  real  trouble.  But  after  all,  a 
scientist  does  not  require  a  great  many  specimens  in  nature 
to  compel  his  mind.  Even  a  very  rare  specimen  is  a  fact, 
and  that  one  rare  specimen  may  throw  down  a  previous  pet 
scientific  theory. 

So  in  Christian  things  our  appeal  is  from  the  merely 
academic  to  life — from  the  Jesus  that  men  say  was  dead,  to 
the  Christ  whom  men  say  is  alive.  And  history  carries  the 
proof  of  it  in  transfigured  characters.  Christian  life  is  a 
fact.  Behind  the  fact  there  is  testimony  to  a  Presence,  and 
without  that  Presence  there  is  no  adequate  explanation  of 
the  fact.  If  the  transfigured  Christian  characters  were  only 
more  transfigured!  If  there  were  only  more  of  them!  If 
they  were  only  a  mightier  cohesive,  redeeming,  social  power — 
then  there  would  be  more  who  would  believe,  there  is  no 
doubt  about  it.  For  even  scientific  minds  are  impressed 
with  power  and  bulk,  and  chilled  by  feebleness  and  fewness. 
The  supreme  means,  then,  of  convincing  men  of  all  kinds 
must  be  the  reality  of  the  Presence  triumphing  in  and  through 
lives,  and  in  and  through  their  social  opportunities.  Till  that 
day  comes  when  Jesus  Christ  shall  have  a  greater  chance 
in  our  lives  and  our  churches  and  our  social  institutions,  we 
appeal  to  what  he  has  had  a  chance  to  do.  We  appeal  to 
what  he  has  done  in  some.  We  appeal  to  the  testimony  of 
those  who  know  his  power.  We  appeal  for  a  venture  from 
the  merely  academic  temper  to  life,  from  theory  to  testimony, 
and  from  testimony  to  a  personal  test  of  the  living  Christ. 
There  are  scientific  men  in  all  departments  of  science  who 
know  the  scientific  situation  and  who  are  at  the  same  time 
Christian  believers.  They  live  with  Christ  in  the  full  light 
of  scientific  statement.  And  they  do  it  because  they  are 
students  of  Christian  facts  as  well  as  of  theories. 


34 


CHAPTER  IV 

What  was  Jesus  Christ  to  His 
First  Followers? 

DAILY  READINGS 

Fourth  Week,  First  Day:  They  Saw  God  Focused 

Take  heed  lest  there  shall  be  any  one  that  maketh  spoil 
of  you  through  his  philosophy  and  vain  deceit,  after  the 
tradition  of  men,  after  the  rudiments  of  the  world,  and  not 
after  Christ:  for  in  him  dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  God- 
head bodily,  and  in  him  ye  are  made  full,  who  is  the  head 
of  all  principality  and  power. — Col.  2:  8-10. 

You  focus  the  sun's  rays  through  a  magnifying  glass  and 
start  a  fire.  The  contents  of  a  vast  library  are  focused  into 
a  catalogue.  The  policy  of  a  nation  is  focused  through  the 
personality  of  an  ambassador.  Jesus  Christ  revealed  God 
in  a  human  focus.  Men  saw  in  him  enough  of  God  for  their 
need.  They  were  satisfied.  There  was  no  sense  of  the  inade- 
quacy of  Christ.  The  inadequacy  was  in  their  power  of 
searching  the  depths  of  the  revelation  that  was  in  him. 

This  is  what  students  of  comparative  religion  as  well  as 
simple  disciples  of  Christ  discover  in  our  day— that  Christ 
gathers  the  broken,  scattered  revelations  of  God  into  a 
focused  unity  in  himself.  It  is  not  that  other  religions  are 
wholly  false,  it  is  simply  that  Christ  makes  a  full-orbed,  all- 
inclusive  revelation  of  God,  sufficient  for  human  need.  As 
a  mattter  of  historical  fact,  every  other  revelation  of  God 
since  has  either  been  an  echo,  a  dilution,  or  a  perversion  of 
that  which  is  in  Christ.  And  when  we  have  the  daylight  we 
are  independent  of  lesser  lights. 

Do  zve  seek  God  where  he  is  focused  or  where  it  is  more 
difficult  to  find  himf 

35 


[IV-2]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

Fourth    Week,    Second    Day:    They    Saw    God 
Simplified 

Even  the  mystery  which  hath  been  hid  for  ages  and 
generations:  but  now  hath  it  been  manifested  to  his  saints, 
to  whom  God  was  pleased  to  make  known  what  is  the 
riches  of  the  glory  of  this  mystery  among  the  Gentiles, 
which  is  Christ  in  you,  the  hope  of  glory. — Col.  i:  26,  27. 

The  humble  disciples  of  Christ  actually  knew  more  about 
God  through  Christ  than  Plato  knew.  I  am  not  here  dis- 
paraging intellectual  inquiry.  I  am  simply  stating  a  fact. 
Because  a  child  in  an  express  train  travels  faster  than  a 
champion  runner  on  foot,  that  is  no  reflection  upon  the 
runner.  So  the  disciples  achieved  more  knowledge  concern- 
ing God  than  was  possessed  by  any  type  of  independent 
speculative  philosopher.  There  are  one  or  two  remarkable 
glimpses  of  God'  in  Aristotle,  but  there  is  no  such  adequate 
knowledge  of  God  for  the  various  aspects  of  life  as  the  men 
of  the  New  Testament  possessed.  Plato  was  far  more  blind 
to  the  sacrificial  idea  in  life  than  were  the  disciples  of  Christ. 
The  revelation  of  God  that  is  in  Christ  comes  down  to 
ordinary  human  comprehension.  This  race  for  divine  knowl- 
edge is  not  to  the  intellectually  swift.  It  is  true  at  this  hour 
that  the  man  who  knows  Christ  has  an  actual  practical  knowl- 
edge by  which  to  live,  that  all  the  purely  intellectual  study 
of  a  lifetime  could  not  give  him.  While  some  brilliant  men 
are  intellectually  stumbling  amidst  the  darkness  of  a  tem- 
pestuous night,  there  are  far  less  gifted  men  walking  confi- 
dently amidst  divine  realities  to  the  conquest  of  life,  realizing 
the  expansion  of  their  triumphant  souls.- 

Do  we  live  in  that  mental  temper  which  can  receive  the 
simplified  revelation  of  God? 

Fourth    Week,  Third    Day:    They    Saw    God   as 
Humanly  Available 

For  through  him  we  both  have  our  access  in  one  Spirit 
unto  the  Father.  So  then  ye  are  no  more  strangers  and 
sojourners,  but  ye  are  fellow-citizens  with  the  saints,  and 
of  the  household  of  God,  being  built  upon  the  foundation 
of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Christ  Jesus  himself  being 
the  chief  corner  stone;  in  whom  each  several  building, 
fitly  framed  together,  groweth  into  a  holy  temple  in  the 

36 


CHRIST  AND  HIS  FIRST  FOLLOWERS   [IV-4] 

Lord;  in  whom  ye  also  are  builded  together  for  a  habita- 
tion of  God  in  the  Spirit. — Eph.  2:  18-22. 

Many  who  believe  in  the  immanence  of  God,  in  the  actual 
presence  of  God  everywhere,  are  at  the  same  time  unable 
to  make  actual  connections  with  God.  Just  so  at  Niagara 
one  may  stand  by  the  vast  cataract  and  yet,  in  the  presence 
of.  so  much  water,  be  unable  to  quench  actual  thirst.  There 
may  be  power  in  the  stream  close  by  your  house,  but  it  is 
not  available  as  electricity  to  give  you  light  until  the  engineer 
sets  up  a  transforming  apparatus. 

Through  Jesus  Christ,  his  disciples  were  immediately  con- 
scious of  being  brought  into  definite  relations  with  the  heart 
of  God.  They  knew  God  as  a  Father.  This  knowledge  is 
deeper  than  the  recognition  of  God  as  the  Creator  of  the 
universe,  or  as  immanent  in  this  world.  It  is  a  knowledge 
born  of  experience  and  of  the  very  essence  of  reality.  It  is 
more  than  intellectual  knowledge,  and  it  saves  the  intellect 
from  being  drowned  in  the  depths  of  mystery  which  intellect 
cannot  fully  fathom.  This  knowledge  of  God  through  Christ 
does  not  solve  the  mysteries  of  the  universe,  but  it  transcends 
them.  There  is  a  sense  of  having  entered  into  a  loving 
relationship  with  God  as  the  soul  of  the  universe,  which  is 
the  hea'rt  of  reality.  There  is  a  sense  of  being  at  home  in 
the  universe,  notwithstanding  its  mysteries.  There  is  a  sense 
of  kinship  with  the  center  of  spiritual  reality.  And  conse- 
quently there  is  a  patient  willingness  to  wait  for  light  upon 
whatever  seems  to  contradict  trust  in  God. 

While  we  recognize  the  nearness  of  God  are  we  able  to 
enter  into  relationship  with  him? 

Fourth    Week,    Fourth   Day:    They   Experienced 

God  Within 

For  ye  died,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God. 
When  Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  be  manifested,  then 
shall  ye  also  with  him  be  manifested  in  glory. 

Put  to  death  therefore  your  members  which  are  upon 
the  earth:  fornication,  uncleanness,  passion,  evil  desire,  and 
covetousness,  which  is  idolatry. — Col.  3:  3-5 

It  is  one  thing  to  admire  a  presence  that  is  entirely  outside 
of  one's  own  life — it  is  quite  a  different  thing  to  be  possessed, 

37 


[IV-5]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

controlled,  inspired,  by  the  spirit  of  that  presence.  It  is  one 
thing  to  follow  a  guide  who  leads  along  the  difficult,  gloomy, 
uphill  path.  It  is  another  thing  to  be  inwardly  possessed  by 
a  wooing,  compelling  presence  whose  spirit  turns  the  hard 
road  into  romance  and  triumph. 

So  there  was  a  time  when  the  early  followers  of  Christ 
simply  admired  him,  but  there  was  another  time  when  the 
living  Spirit  of  Christ  lived  within  them.  He  ruled  their 
hearts.  His  life  became  the  life  of  their  lives.  When  Jesus 
was  physically  with  them,  they  followed  him  as  a  Master. 
When  he  was  physically  absent  and  spiritually  present,  he 
lived  within  them.  They  knew  him  far  more  intimately 
when  he  was  spiritually  with  them  than  when  he  was  physi- 
cally with  them.  Therefore  we  say  that  Christ  revealing  God 
zvithin  men  by  his  indwelling  presence  is  normal,  apostolic, 
historical  Christianity.  Christ  as  a  spiritual  presence  within 
human  lives,  illumining,  restraining,  inspiring  them,  is  the 
very  heart  of  Christianity.  It  is  this  relationship  between 
Christ  and  his  followers  that  has  made  real  Christianity. 
What  has  not  been  of\  this  living,  inner  relationship  could 
never  by  itself  survive  as  Christianity. 

Is  our  knowledge  of  God  an  inner  spiritual  experience  or 
is  it  merely  a  mental  assent^ 

Fourth    Week,    Fifth    Day:    They    Experienced 
Forgiveness 

The  God  of  our  fathers  raised  up  Jesus,  whom  ye  slew, 
hanging  him  on  a  tree.  Him  did  God  exalt  with  his  right 
hand  to  be  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  to  give  repentance  to 
Israel,  and  remission  of  sins.  And  we  are  witnesses  of 
these  things;  and  so  is  the  Holy  Spirit,  whom  God  hath 
given  to  them  that  obey  him. — Acts  5 :  30-32. 

The  followers  of  Christ  believed  that  when  he  forgave  them 
their  sins  they  were  free  from  guilt  in  the  face  of  the  whole 
universe.  They  were  unafraid  to  live  or  die.  They  feared 
God,  but  they  were  not  afraid  of  him.  This  sense  of  forgive- 
ness did  not  deaden  their  conscience.  It  gave  them  a  new 
moral  sensitiveness.  It  was  not  a  substitute  for  character, 
it  was  a  fresh  start  in  the  pursuit  of  character.  Unforgiven, 
they  would  have  been  morally  broken  and  paralyzed  men. 
Forgiven,  they  were  possessed  by  a  new  zest  for  life.     And 

38 


CHRIST  AND  HIS  FIRST  FOLLOWERS   [IV-6] 

this  experience  has  been  verified  in  the  Hves  of  multitudes 
in  our  own  time  of  the  best  men  made  better  and  of  the  worst 
men  transformed.  There  is  nothing  in  this  Hfe  of  which 
they  have  been  surer  than  their  moral  renewal  through  the 
forgiveness  of  Christ. 

Where  in  all  human  experience  is  there  any  such  escape 
from  moral  failure  into  triumphant  moral  achievement  as 
in  the  lives  of  those  who  bear  witness  to  having  accepted 
forgiveness  from  Christ?  There  is  no  story  of  moral  restora- 
tion, of  renewed  enthusiasm,  of  recovered  joy,  of  fresh 
conscious  oneness  with  the  will  of  God,  and  of  humble  contri- 
tion, in  the  whole  of  human  literature  which  compares  with 
the  testimony  of  a  believing  Christian.  Into  what  new  day 
does  Shakespeare  bring  Lady  Macbeth?  What  does  Victor 
Hugo  do  for  Jean  Valjean?  Where  does  Hawthorne  leave 
Arthur  Dimmesdale? 

Can  anything  take  the  place  of  the  divine  forgiveness  in 
our  lives? 

Fourth  Week,  Sixth  Day:  They  Possessed  Power 

And  he  hath  said  unto  me,  My  grace  is  sufficient  for 
thee:  for  my  power  is  made  perfect  in  weakness.  Most 
gladly  therefore  will  I  rather  glory  in  my  weaknesses,  that 
the  power  of  Christ  may  rest  upon  me.  Wherefore  I  take 
pleasure  in  weaknesses,  in  injuries,  in  necessities,  in  perse- 
cutions, in  distresses,  for  Christ's  sake:  for  when  I  am 
weak,  then  am  I  strong. — II  Cor.  12:  9,  10. 

The  sign  of  power  is  that  things  happen.  Things  happened 
In  and  through  the  lives  of  the  disciples  of  Christ.  Read 
through  the  book  of  Acts  with  the  idea  in  your  mind  of 
things  happening,  and  you  will  be  conscious  of  the  energy 
of  a  new  epoch  in  the  life  of  the  world.  Even  in  reading 
about  it,  one  becomes  aware  of  being  lifted  into  a  higher 
spiritual  realm,  as  a  boat  high  and  dry  is  floated  by  a  rising 
tide. 

What  does  it  mean?  It  means  that  Christ-consciousness 
in  those  men's  lives  made  them  aware  of  great  tasks  and 
of  great  resources  in  achieving  them.  They  were  not  so 
much  conscious  of  power  as  conscious  of  Christ.  Christ 
expressed  himself  through  them  as  urging  certain  things  to 
be  done,  with  his  spiritual  capital  behind  the  doing  of  it. 

39 


[IV-;]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

Those  men  knew  that  a  command  from  Christ  implied  the 
abiHty  to  achieve  it  as  hidden  in  the  heart  of  the  command. 
Triumph  came  not  through  self-consciousness,  but  through 
Christ-consciousness. 

If  Croesus  asks  you  to  do  some  expensive  task  for  him, 
it  is  not  your  pocket  book  that  is  behind  it,  but  his.  And  in 
the  doing  of  it  you  do  not  think  of  your  resources  but  his. 

Is  our  Christianity  primarily  a  task  or  power  to  achieve  it? 

Fourth  Week,  Seventh  Day:  They  Found  a  Center 
for  Social  Unity  and  Progress 

And  when  the  day  o£  Pentecost  was  now  come,  they 
were  all  together  in  one  place.  And  suddenly  there  came 
from  heaven  a  sound  as  of  the  rushing  of  a  mighty  wind, 
and  it  filled  all  the  house  where  they  were  sitting.  And 
there  appeared  unto  them  tongues  parting  asunder,  like  as 
of  fire;  and  it  sat  upon  each  one  of  them.  And  they  were 
all  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  began  to  speak  with 
other  tongues,  as  the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance. — Acts 
a:  1-4. 

Through  their  Master  the  disciples  not  only  found  their 
own  highest  destiny  as  individuals,  but  they  entered  upon  the 
beginnings  of  a  new  social  center  of  unity  and  progress. 
The  most  potent  bond  was  established  between  them,  issuing 
from  a  profound  common  relation  to  Christ.  Think  of  all 
the  ties  which  have  united  groups  of  people,  and  consider  if 
there  ever  was  one  which  had  the  unifying  elements  of  that 
comradeship :  They  had  a  living  Leader  in  the  deepest  things 
of  life.  They  rejoiced  in  a  personal  experience  of  those 
deepest  things.  They  enjoyed  a  definite  spiritual  fellowship 
in  those  greatest  of  realities.  They  were  comforted  and  sus- 
tained by  a  common  outlook  upon  life.  They  were  inspired 
towards  the  same  ideal  in  service.  They  were  united  in  the 
expectation  of  a  coming  Kingdom. 

Of  course,  without  the  actual  spiritual  experience  this  bond 
simply  does  not  exist,  however  impressively  the  outward  form 
of  it  may  be  set  up.  Everything  depends  upon  the  reality  of 
the  inner  condition.  But  where  the  spiritual  regeneration 
has  taken  place,  there  is  the  seed  plot  of  a  social  order,  there 
is  the  hope  for  a  new  humanity.  Are  we  making  a  vital 
contribution  to  such  possibilities? 

40 


CHRIST  AND  HIS  FIRST  FOLLOWERS    [IV-cI 
.      COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 


The  followers  of  Jesus  aid  not  enter  upon  their  penetrating 
knowledge  of  him  all  at  once.  There  was  a  gradual  recogni- 
tion of  him.  They  began  their  discipleship,  some  of  them, 
as  with  a  teacher  to  whom  they  had  been  introduced,  perhaps 
with  a  determination  not  to  be  carried  away  by  enthusiastic 
reports.  Just  so,  many  a  great  friendship  begins  in  the  most 
casual  way,  with  no  immediate  promise  of  rich  and  far-reach- 
ing resuhs. 

But  the  appeal  of  his  personality,  plus  their  willingness  to 
be  open-minded  and  open-hearted  to  his  influence,  brought 
a  great  treasure  of  conviction  regarding  him.  Even  while 
he  was  still  in  the  flesh,  they  had  followed  clues  and  hints 
that  led  them  to  awe-inspiring  conclusions.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  divide  up  into  its  various  shades  of  color  the 
beam  of  light  which  fell  upon  their  souls  from  his  presence. 
There  were  so  many  elements  in  it.  It  was  the  mixture  of 
so  much  that  was  beyond  their  knowledge  or  dreams,  issuing 
out  from  him  as  a  conquering  spiritual  illumination,  as  a 
renewing  atmosphere,  as  a  compelling  revelation.  And  when 
he  became  invisible,  when  his  presence  was  wholly  spiritual, 
there  came  to  them  a  sudden  increase  of  unearthly  light  upon 
him  as  to  who  he  was  and  what  he  was.  There  was  born  in 
them  a  sense  of  deathless  spiritual  nearness  and  of  kinship. 
They  saw  their  Lord  in  luminous  cosmic  relationships  to  God 
and  to  the  world.  There  flashed  in  upon  them  a  dazzling 
knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  swept  away  all  hesitations, 
misgivings,  and  paralyzing  fears.  They  had  become  normal, 
dynamic,   militant   Christians. 

As  such,  Christ  had  for  them  the  value  of  God.  They 
were  not  concerned  about  knowing  more  about  God.  They 
did  not  speculate  as  to  God  outside  of  his  revelation  in  Christ. 
They  had  in  Christ  a  sufficient  relation  to  the  universe.  The 
full  range  of  their  need  was  compassed.  They  were  complete 
in  him.  Their  vision  was  filled  and  held  by  the  personal 
relation  to  Christ.  He  had  from  the  beginning  of  his  asso- 
ciation with  them  insisted  upon  a  definite  personal  relation. 
"Jesus  knows  no  more  sacred  task  than  to  point  men  to  his 
own  person,"  says  Hermann.  There  was  no  apology  for  his 
astounding    demands,    made    in    the    midst    of    the   humblest 

41 


[IV-c]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

circumstances,  and  with  the  lowliest  bearing.  The  light  and 
shade  in  him  were  of  the  intensest  extremes.  The  most 
menial  service  was  joined  with  the  most  commanding  au- 
thority. There  were  no  explanations,  and  no  compromises. 
And  men  responded  to  his  expectation.  They  read  the  signa- 
ture of  God  all  over  him.  He  asked  the  very  first  place  in 
their  lives,  expected  it,  obtained  it,  and  when  it  was  given 
he  was  not  surprised.  And  there  was  no  material  pageantry 
behind  him  to  allure  men  to  surrender  to  him — no  magic  of 
fashion  to  compel — no  imperial  purple  to  awe. 

It  was  all  the  other  way.  But  God  moved  out  upon  men 
through  a  personality  who  focused  the  eternal  in  time,  caught 
up  into  himself  the  claims  of  God  upon  man,  presented  those 
claims,  and  established  himself  as  the  Lord  of  life. 

We  are  here  at  the  heart  of  historical  Christianity.  To 
quote  Professor  H.  Mackintosh :  "When  once  the  Gospel  has 
been  severed  from  an  historic  person  and  identified  with  a 
complex  of  metaphysical  ideas,  what  it  ought  to  be  called 
is  scarcely  worth  discussion ;  that  it  is  no  longer  Christianity 
is  clear." 

II 

Astronomical  observation  has  an  authoritative  relation  to 
the  watch  in  your  pocket,  over  the  town  clock,  and  to  watches 
and  town  clocks  everywhere.  So  the  charter  members  of 
Christianity  looked  upon  Christ  as  their  supreme  authority. 

They  were  conscious  that  he  had  "the  sovereign  right  to 
exercise  moral  compulsion"  towards  them.  It  was  not  the 
compulsion  which  came  out  of  an  argument,  for  Christ  did 
not  argue  with  them.  It  was  a  distinctly  moral  compulsion, 
which  struck  them  in  their  moral  being ;  they  were  sure  it 
came  from  God.  They  were  convinced  that  there  was  no 
liigher  court  of  appeal  from  this  authority.  When  Jesus 
■charged  them,  commanded  them,  communed  with  them,  they 
believed  that  the  soul  of  God  was  moving  upon  their  souls. 
That  authority  in  Christ  became  more  real  to  them  as  they 
responded  to  it,  and  in  responding  to  it  they  recognized  that, 
since  his  authority  came  from  the  heart  of  God,  it  must 
move  out  through  them  toward  the  circumference  of  human 
society. 

The  seat  of  authority  in  religion  for  them,  therefore,  rose 
from  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  to  their  Lord.    For  they 

42 


CHRIST  AND  HIS  FIRST  FOLLOWERS   [IV-c] 

had  experi-ences  which  were  beyond  those  Scriptures,  and  the 
New  Testament  wa-s  not  yet  written.  With  every  possible 
veneration  for  the  Old  Testament,  it  could  not  be  said  that 
the  pioneer  Christians  found  their  ultimate  authority  there, 
for  their  life  and  testimony  and  task  went  beyond  the  Old 
Testament.  It  is  quite  true  they  found  in  the  Scriptures  a 
testimony  concerning  their  supreme  authority.  "Search  the 
Scriptures,  for  in  them  ye  think  ye  have  eternal  life,  and  these 
are  they  which  testify  of  me." 

The  seat  of  authority  in  religion  for  them  was  not  to  be 
found  in  a  church.  For  they  had  outgrown  their  original 
Jewish  Church,  while  the  new  Christian  Church  had  hardly 
been  formed. 

Nor  was  their  religious  authority  mere  subjective  illumina- 
tion. For  they  had  not  sufficient  inner  light  until  they  were 
cleansed  and  regenerated  by  a  Presence  greater  than  their 
own  native  illumination. 

Their  authority  was  Christ,  not  as  a  definition,  not  as  a 
system  of  doctrine — not  his  teaching,  but  his  presence ;  not 
merely  as  Christ  touched  the  intellect,  but  as  he  sounded  the 
depths  of  personality  where  they  longed  most  of  all  for  a 
divine  authority  to  grip  them,  heal  them,  and  reassure  them. 


Ill 

I  have  seen  a  group  of  houses  built  on  land  to  which,  I 
understood,  the  owners  had  no  title.  The  houses  are  no  doubt 
comfortable  and  the  families  who  occupy  them  happy,  but 
some  day  they  may  find  themselves  dispossessed.  The 
"squatter"  is  all  right  only  for  the  time  being.  So  we  hear 
a  gqod  deal  in  our  day  about  one's  ozvn  inner  experiences 
as  being  his  authority  in  religion.  And  that  may  be  all  well 
enough  if  the  experience  is  something  more  than  mere  exalta- 
tion of  feeling,  if  it  has  some  real  authority.  But  that  sort 
of  thing  viay  have  no  higher  source  than  physical  or  psychical 
exuberance.  A  mere  mood  is  a  dangerous  thing.  Feeling 
happy  is  a  very  comfortable  experience.  But  it  proves  little, 
it  settles  nothing.  There  are  several  modern  cults  built  upon 
comfortable  psychology.  But  unfortunately  they  do  not  face 
the  ultimate  issues  of  life.  They  simply  urge  ignoring  the 
disagreeable,  as  the  ostrich  buries  its  head  in  the  sand  in  order , 
to  be  out  of  sight. 

43 


[IV-c]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

There  are  all  kinds  of  merely  psychological  experiences 
which  thrive  upon  ignoring  moral  reality.  But  this  is  an 
ethical  universe  and  a  valid  religious  experience  must  be 
consistent  with  such  a  universe.  Christ'  comes  upon  the  soul 
in  the  full  light  of  an  ethical  universe.  He  deals  with  the 
ethical  problems  within  man.  With  ethical  consistency  he 
takes  the  torment  out  of  the  human  conscience. 

That  is  what  he  did  for  his  apostles.  And  they  were  vividly 
conscious  that  God  in  Christ  had  done  all  that  was  necessary 
in  the  moral  universe  to  make  their  moral  regeneration  possi- 
ble. Simon  Peter  had  sinned.  Saul  of  Tarsus  had  sinned. 
They  all  had  smned.  And  whoever  was  brought  back  from 
sin  into  normal  relations  with  God,  with  the  unseen  moral 
universe,  could  come  only  as  it  was  morally  right  that  they 
should  come.  Was  it  right  that  Simon  Peter,  Saul  of  Tarsus, 
and  the  rest  of  them  should  be  so  brought  back? 

That  was  a  problem  in  the  "unseen  moral  world.  They 
could  not  fathom  it.  But  they  gazed  upon  it  wistfully,  rever- 
entjy,  contritely.  They  believed  that  God  dealt  with  that 
problem.  They  had  a  profound  conviction  that  they  saw 
hints,  clues,  flashes  of  unearthly  light  upon  that  problem, 
through  the  human  life  and  passion  of  Jesus  Christ. 

They  remembered  words  of  Christ.  They  remembered 
mysterious,  inscrutable,  awe-inspiring  actions.  They  remem- 
bered forever  that  all  these  converged  in  a  Cross.  And  after- 
wards in  the  thick  darkness  great  flashes  of  light  illumined 
that  Cross. 

Those  men  knew  they  were  forgiven.  Their  forgiveness 
was  not  an  emotional  outburst.  It  was  a  moral  readjustment 
with  a  moral  universe.  They  were  at  one  with  God,  and  all 
that  God  stood  for.  Whatever  problem  was  involved  in  ithe 
transcendent  fact  of  making  human  moral  recovery  an  actual 
experience,  God  had  dealt  with  it.  For  in  Christ  they  had 
experienced  it.  They  knew  this  with  the  same  consciousness 
that  they  knew  everything  else,  only  it  was  keener,  more 
vivid,  than  other  facts  of  which  they  were  conscious.  This 
stood  out  memorable,  unforgettable.  And  what  did  it  matter 
what  they  had  to  eat  and  wear?  What  did  it  matter  whether 
men  counted  them  successes  or  failures?  They  were  at  one 
with  God  and  his  universe,  for  the  Spirit  of  Christ  was  within 
them,  bringing  them  into  accord  with  the  will  of  God  for 
themselves  and  for  the  whole  world. 

44 


CHAPTER  V 

Some  Obstacles  in  the  Way  of 
Knowing  Christ 

DAILY  READINGS 

Fifth  Week,  First  Day:  The  Mind  Fixed  Upon  a 
Moral  Standard  Rather  Than  Upon  Christ 

According  to  the  riches  of  his  grace  which  he  made  to 
abound  toward  us  in  all  wisdom  and  prudence,  making 
known  unto  us  the  mystery  of  his  will,  according  to  his 
good  pleasure  which  he  purposed  in  him  unto  a  dispensa- 
tion of  the  fulness  of  the  times,  to  sum  up  all  things  in 
Christ,  the  things  in  the  heavens,  and  the  things  upon  the 
earth;  in  him,  I  say,  in  whom  also  we  were  made  a  herit- 
age, having  been  foreordained  according  to  the  purpose  of 
him  who  worketh  all  things  after  the  counsel  of  his  will; 
to  the  end  that  we  should  be  unto  the  praise  of  his  glory, 
we  who  had  before  hoped  in  Christ:  in  whom  ye  also,  hav- 
ing heard  the  word  of  the  truth,  the  gospel  of  your  salva- 
tion,— in  whom,  having  also  believed,  ye  were  sealed  v/ith 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise. — Eph.  i:  7-13. 

A  woman  called  upon  a  poor  widow  with  money  to  help 
pay  her  rent.  The  widow  did  not  answer  the  knock  at  the 
door  because  she  thought  it  was  the  owner  of  the  house  for 
the  overdue  money.  This  is  the  attitude  of  some  minds 
towards  Christ.  They  look  upon  him  as  a  moral  landlord 
and  they  have  not  yet  scraped  together  the  moral  coin  which 
he  demands.  They  will  answer  his  knock  at  the  door  when 
they  have  reached  a  certain  stage  of  moral  excellence.  But 
they  never  seem  to  be  able  to  reach  it.  They  are  trying  hard. 
Their  thoughts  oscillate  between  the  requirements  of  an  ideal, 
and  a  keen  sense  of  shortcoming  in  relation  to  it.  The  thing 
immediately    visualized    is    the   moral    ideal    with   a    demand,. 

45 


[V-2]       UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

instead  of  the  Presence  with  help.  The  mind  is  burdened 
with  the  thought  of  a  moral  mortgage,  rather  than  inspired 
and  heartened  by  the  vision  of  a  Presence  with  an  endowment. 

Thus  Christ  as  the  helper  of  the  soul  is  shut  out  of  the 
thoughts  in  the  meantime.  There  are  brief  glimpses  of  the 
gracious  mission  of  Christ  to  the  soul,  but  the  emphasis  of 
the  mind  is  not  focused  clearly  and  steadily  upon  his  liberat- 
ing and  life-giving  presence. 

Shall  we  fix  our  attention  upon  law  or  upon  grace  as  re- 
vealed in  Christ? 


Fifth  Week,  Second  Day:  The  Mind  Centering 
Upon  Personal  Failure  Instead  of  Upon  Christ 

For  I  delight  in  the  law  of  God  after  the  inward  man: 
but  I  see  a  different  law  in  my  members,  warring  against 
the  law  of  my  mind,  and  bringing  me  into  captivity  under 
the  law  of  sin  which  is  in  my  members.  Wretched  man 
that  I  am!  who  shall  deliver  me  out  of  the  body  of  this 
death? — Rom.  7:  22-24. 

Penitence  is  a  very  blessed  condition  of  soul.  But  when 
penitence  turns  the  mind  in  upon  oneself  in  an  attitude  of 
introspection,  of  discouraged  brooding,  of  merciless  self- 
accusation,  then  we  see  the  vice  of  a  virtue.  Suppose  a  child 
has  an  injured  hand  of  which  he  is  so  painfully  conscious 
that  he  will  not  allow  a  physician  to  touch  it — he  is  simply 
making  things  worse.  So  penitence  carried  to  the  point  of 
thinking  exclusively  of  one's  failures  or  sins,  or  of  one's 
general  unworthiness,  does  not  lead  anywhere  except  to 
despair.  There  are  many  people  living  in  this  attitude  of 
mind.  They  think  that  they  must  continue  to  increase  its 
intensity.  And  they  are  distressed  because  they  cannot  make 
themselves  feel  the  pain  of  even  greater  anguish.  It  is  just 
here  some  plunge  right  back  into  carelessness  and  sin.  •  They 
have  an  idea  that  they  cannot  meet  the  penitential  terms  of 
Christ,  and  in  sheer  discouragement  they  give  it  all  up. 

That  is  remorse.  Remorse  is  penitence  turned  in  upon 
oneself,  plunging  amidst  the  darkness  of  one's  own  sense  of 
failure.  Real  penitence,  on  the  other  hand,  turns  the  mind 
outwards  tozvards  Jesus  Christ.  Judas  Iscariot  was  a  victim 
of  remorse.     Simon  Peter  learned  to  be  a  true  penitent,  for 

46 


OBSTACLES  TO  KNOWING  CHRIST        [V-3] 

he  would  not  surrender  to   despair  and  he  sought  the   for- 
giving presence  of  his  Master. 

Is  our  penitence  leading  us  anywhere,  or  are  zve  merely  in 
an  attitude  of  chronic  regret? 

Fifth  Week,  Third  Day:  Christ  Eclipsed  by  Occu- 
pation with  Good  Work 

But  Martha  was  cumbered  about  much  serving;  and  she 
came  up  to  him,  and  said,  Lord,  dost  thou  not  care  that 
my  sister  did  leave  me  to  serve  alone?  bid  her  therefore 
that  she  help  me.  But  the  Lord  answered  and  said  unto 
her,  Martha,  Martha,  thou  art  anxious  and  troubled  about 
many  things:  but  one  thing  is  needful:  for  Mary  hath 
chosen  the  good  part,  which  shall  not  be  taken  away  from 
her. — Luke  10:  40-42. 

Every  practical  person  has  a  good  deal  of  sympathy  with 
Martha.  And  there  is  a  sense  in  which  service  is  the 
essence  of  devotion  to  Christ.  At  the  same  time  we  all  know 
the  possibility  of  becoming  so  engrossed  in  work  as  to  lose 
sight  of  the  personal  relation  to  ChVist.  A  man  may  so  toil 
for  his  family  as  gradually  to  neglect  the  personal  relation, 
for  while  his  family  lives  by  bread,  it  does  not  live  by  bread 
alone. 

There  are  many  families  that  would  be  willing  to  have  less 
bread  and  more  personal  fellowship.  At  any  rate,  the  thing 
that  stands  betzveen  some  lives  and  Christ  is  complete  absorp- 
tion in  work  of  one  kind  or  another.  The  very  unselfishness 
of  the  occupation  tends  to  increase  the  subtilty  of  the  tempta- 
tion to  make  work  a  substitute  for  personal  relationship. 
Self-sacrificing  activity  takes  the  place  of  prayer.  Up  to  a 
point  it  is  right  enough,  it  is  plausible  enough,  and  yet  the 
hour  comes  when  a.  great  mistake  is  recognized.  Or  one  is 
haunted  even  in  the  midst  of  his  noble  work  by  the  fear 
that  he  is  making  a  profound  mistake,  that  after  all  nothing 
can  stand  as  a  complete  substitute  for  a  personal  spiritual 
relation.  For  without  that  the  quality  of  the  work  is  weakened, 
the  power  and  vision  in  doing  it  are  impaired,  and  without 
inner  spiritual  vitality  the  events  of  the  day  do  not  minister 
to  the  growth  of  the  soul. 

Is  our  service  the  outcome  of  a  personal  relationship  or  a 
substitute  for  it? 

A7 


[V-sJ       UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

Pif  th  Week,  Fourth  Day :  Christ  Eclipsed  by  Mak- 
ing Prayer  an  End  in  Itself 

And  in  praying  use  not  vain  repetitions,  as  the  Gentiles 
do:  for  they  think  that  they  shall  be  heard  for  their  much 
speaking.  Be  not  therefore  like  unto  them:  for  your 
Father  knoweth  what  things  ye  have  need  of,  before  ye 
ask  him. — Matt.  6:  7,  8. 

The  habit  of  prayer  is  of  supreme  importance  in  the  spirit- 
ual life  if  the  object  towards  whom  prayer  is  offered  is  more 
or  less  real  to  him  who  prays.  But  is  it  not  possible  for  one 
to  pray  to  his  own  prayers — to  be  taken  up  with  the  fact 
that  he  is  praying,  that  he  has  prayed  so  many  times  or  for 
so  long  a  timef  If  one  makes  the  mistake  of  substituting 
going  to  the  spring  for  drinking  the  water  of  the  spring,  he 
is  deceiving  himself.  And  if  he  should  think  that  the  oftener 
he  goes  to  the  spring  the  more  efficacious  it  would  be,  he 
would  do  himself  an  injury.  This  is  the  attitude  of  some  in 
religion.  Christ  is  eclipsed  by  the  consciousness  of  praying. 
It  is  the  act  of  praying  that  is  real  to  the  person.  It  is  the 
act  which  is  looked  to  for  a  result.  The  means  is  made  an 
end.  It  is  as  if  one  were  to  substitute  a  key  for  his  house, 
as  if  he  should  revel  in  the  fact  that  he  has  his  key  while 
he  stands  outside  of  his  house  in  the  storm.  And  if  one 
key  would  not  do,  he  would  procure  a  bunch  of  keys,  and 
insist  that  now  surely  he  should  find  escape  from  the  storm. 

Am  I  conscious  of  God,  or  of  my  prayersf 

Fifth    Week,    Fifth    Day:     Christ    Eclipsed    by 
Thoughts  of  the  Attitude  of  Others 

While  he  yet  spake,  they  come  from  the  ruler  o£  the 
synagogue's  house,  saying,  Thy  daughter  is  dead:  why 
troublest  thou  the  Teacher  any  further'?  But  Jesus,  not 
heeding  the  word  spoken,  saith  unto  the  ruler  of  the 
synagogue,  Fear  not,  only  believe. — Mark  5 :  35,  36. 

When  some  have  sought  the  presence  of  Christ,  they  have 
been  conscious  of  a  cynical,  chilling  whisper  from  the  world, 
"What  is  the  use  of  your  trying  to  interest  the  Lord  in  your 
case?  It  is  too  hopeless.  Trouble  not  the  Master,"  They 
have  become  more  conscious  of  that  paralyzing  suggestion 
than  of  the  Friend  of  sinners. 


OBSTACLES  TO  KNOWING  CHRIST  [V-6] 
I 

I  have  heard  the  story  of  a  poor  woman  living  on  the 
Balmoral  estate  who  had  been  invited  by  Queen  Victoria  to 
visit  her  at  her  castle.  The  invitation  not  having  been  ac- 
cepted, her  Majesty  asked  her  friend  for  the  reason.  The 
shy  answer  was  given:  'T  am  afraid  of  the  men  with  the 
brass  buttons  at  the  door."  So  the  thought  of  the  world's 
criticism,  condemnation,  hostility — real  or  imagined — has  filled 
the  mind,  instead  of  the  invitation  of  the  Saviour.  Many 
a  seeker  is  kept  from  the  knowledge  of  Christ  because  he 
cannot  put  divine  love  in  the  front  of  his  mind  instead  of 
thoughts  of  the  unforgiving  spirit  of  the  world. 

Are  we  mastered  by  the  real  attitude  of  Christ,  or  by  the 
imagined  attitude  of  the  world? 

Fifth  Week,  Sixth  Day:  Visualizing  Jesus  Christ 

And  he  fell  upon  the  earth,  and  heard  a  voice  saying 
unto  him,  Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me?  And  he 
said,  Who  art  thou,  Lord?  And  he  said,  I  am  Jesus  whom 
thou  persecutest:  but  rise,  and  enter  into  the  city,  and  it 
shall  be  told  thee  what  thou  must  do. — Acts  9:  4-6. 

When  we  think  of  our  beloved  dead  we  make  a  mental 
image  of  them  as  we  knew  them  on  earth.  Of  course,  we  all 
know  that  it  is  the  spirit  which  survives,  and  yet  we  get 
near  to  the  spirit  through  mental  images  of  physical  forms 
that  were  dear  to  us.  The  mental  picture  of  a  former  physi- 
cal presence  conveys,  we  might  say  sacramentally,  a  spiritual 
presence.  f 

In  the  same  way  do  we  not  get  near  to  the  living  spiritual 
presence  of  Jesus  Christ  through  mentally  visualizing  him 
in  the  light  of  his  human  personality? 

It  is  not  that  we  think  of  him  merely  as  living  in  the  past, 
but  his  human  past  aids  us  in  thinking  of  him  intelligently, 
and  spirituall}^  in  the  present.  And  if  Christ  zuas  the  supreme 
human  point  of  contact  for  men  with  God  he  is  so  still. 

If  Christ  zvas  a  fact,  then  he  continues  to  be  a  fact.  If  the 
essential  message  and  power  of  his  life  proceeded  from  his 
imperishable  Spirit,  then  his  living  Spirit  continues  to  convey 
that  message  and  power.  //  Christ  claimed  a  personal,  practi- 
cal, supreme,  spiritual  relation  to  men  once  in  time,  then 
surely  that  relation  is  permanent.  A  spiritual  fact  is  an  abid- 
ing   reality,    in    spite    of    all    physical    phenomenal    changes. 

40 


[V-7]       UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

Therefore  if  we  admit  that  Jesus  Christ  had  a  personal, 
spiritual  relation  to  men,  then  we  cannot  deny  that  same  rela- 
tionship now  without  doing  violence  to  a  spiritual  fact.  For 
a  spiritual  fact  does  not  cease  to  exist,  because  physical  death 
cannot  injure  it  any  more  than  a  sword  can  cut  a  sunbeam. 
The  sunbeam  shines  on. 

Fifth  Week,  Seventh  Day :  The  Nearness  of  Jesus 
Christ 

And  Jesus  came  to  them  and  spake  unto  them,  saying, 
All  authority  hath  been  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  on 
earth.  Go  ye  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  the 
nations,  baptizing  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and 
of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit:  teaching  them  to  ob- 
serve all  things  whatsoever  I  commanded  you:  and  lo,  I 
am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world. — 
Matt.  28:  20. 

When  we  think  of  distance  we  usually  make  a  mental  image 
of  so  many  miles,  or  yards,  or  inches.  But  when  we  come 
to  think  of  a  spiritual  presence  we  must  try  to  get  away  from 
this  physical  idea.  For  physical  distance  belongs  to  physical 
things. 

For  example,  in  the  mental  world  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  geography.  The  only  distance  between  us  and  an  idea 
is  the  lack  of  comprehension,  or  the  lack  of  desire  to  compre- 
hend. So  the  only  separation  in  the  spiritual  world  is  the 
lack  o^  spirituality,  or  the  lack  of  concern  for  it.  Let  us 
therefore  shut  out  of  our  thoughts  the  idea  of  physical  dis- 
tance when  we  think  of  the  living  Spirit  of  Jesus  Christ. 
This  idea  has  disheartened  many  a  seeker.  It  is  as  if  one 
were  thousands  of  miles  away  from  help.  It  has  the  instinc- 
tive strain  and  anxiety  of  a  very  long-distance  telephone 
call  for  help.  It  is  this  idea  that  has  made  many  sink  into 
despair.  When  we  get  rid  of  the  conception  of  physical 
far-away-ness  in  regard  to  Jesus  Christ,  a  considerable  part 
of  our -spiritual  strain  and  anxiety  vanishes.  Just  as  when 
our  loved  ones  die,  some  part  of  our  human  sorrow  consists 
in  a  sense  of  far-away-ness  which  we  should  try  hard  to 
eliminate  from  our  thoughts,  so  in  our  relation  to  Jesus 
Christ  we  must  break  that  cruel  spell  of  spatial  separation. 

Let  us  clearly  and  definitely  eliminate  all  idea  of  the  physical 

50 


OBSTACLES  TO  KNOWING  CHRIST        [V-c] 

t 

from  the  problem  of  our  relation  to  Jesus  Christ.    He  is  here. 
What  is  the  only  barrier  that  may  stand  between  us  and 
Christ? 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 

I 

//  Jesus  Christ  is  to  become  a  vivid  reality,  the  mind  must 
get  rid  of  everything  that  turns  the  thoughts  in  upon  itself. 
It  must  think  outzvards.  There  are  many  things  which  tend 
to  hold  the  attention  upon  oneself,  and  not  upon  Christ.  As 
some  are  kept  in  the  grip  of  paralyzing  depression  by  think- 
ing exclusively  of  their  failures,  there  are  others  held  in  the 
grip  of  self-satisfaction  by  thinking  of  their  excellent  achieve- 
ments. The  Pharisee  stood  and  prayed  thus  with  himself, 
"God,  I  thank  Thee  that  I  am  not  as  other  men  are  ...  I 
fast  twice  in  the  week,  I  give  tithes  of  all  that  I  possess." 
Like  Saul  of  Tarsus  they  assert  that  they  are  "as  touching 
the  law  blameless."  Their  religion  tends  to  become  self- 
conscious  goodness.  They  are  satisfied  and  fortified  by 
thoughts  of  themselves.  Their  standard  of  moral  measure- 
ment is  comparison  with  their  neighbors,  with  a  keen  sense  of 
personal  superiority.  So  long  as  their  self-conscious  attitude 
continues  there  can  be  no  sense  of  the  reality  of  Christ.  A 
self-centered  man  may  often  have  no  sense  of  what  another 
man  who  is  speaking  to  him  is  saying,  he  is  so  completely 
taken  up  with  his  own  thoughts  and  what  he  wants  to  say. 
He  has  no  mental  receptiveness.  That  is  the  attitude  of  the 
morally  self-satisfied  in  relation  to  Christ. 

It  is  astonishing  when  we  are  preoccupied  how  little  we 
see.  A  man  may  pass  a  monument  almost  every  day  for  years 
and  not  know  the  inscription  upon  it.  He  may  not  even  know 
the  name  of  the  famous  person  it  represents. 

I  have  had  more  than  one  man  who  had  passed  the  statue 
in  front  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  in  London  hundreds  of  times, 
inaccurately  declare  it  to  be  a  figure  representing  the  late 
Queen  Victoria.  If  we  are  not  interested  in  certain  sections 
of  a  newspaper,  it  is  amusing  how  we  may  cease  to  be  aware 
of  the  existence  of  such  news,  even  when  we  read  the  news- 
paper every  day.  And  preoccupation  with  moral  self-satisfac- 
tion may  blot  out  the  presence  of  Christ  so  that  he  is  a  mere 
name  amongst  a  multitude  of  others. 

51 


[V-c]       UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 


II 

We  may  eclipse  our  vision  of  Christ  by  having  the  mind 
taken  up  with  our  condition  of  indifference,  or  what  we  con- 
ceive to  amount  to  indifference.  We  may  be  tempted  to  center 
ovir  thoughts  not  upon  our  bad  selves  or  our  good  selves,  but 
upon  our  indifferent  selves. 

We  judge  the  inner  life  to  be  not  sufficiently  awake,  not 
sufficiently  concerned  for  Christ — so  that  the  thought  is  with- 
drawn from  him  to  be  concentrated  upon  yet  another  form  of 
inner  condition.  This  time  it  is  moral  numbness.  It  is  as  if 
when  some  gracious  friend  came  to  see  us  we  should  remain 
in  our  room,  cogitating  upon  how  to  improve  our  attitude 
towards  him,  before  we  should  meet  him,  whereas  common 
sense  would  teach  us  that  it  is  in  forgetting  our  attitude,  and 
thinking  of  our  friend  and  his  unselfish  friendliness,  that  all 
unconsciously  our  attitude  would  be  changed.  His  presence 
would  do  far  more  in  the  way  of  thawing  us  out  than  all  our 
isolated  introspection  could  do.  Friendships  are  not  made  or 
healed  by  morbid  self-analysis  in  aloofness  from  our  fellows. 
And  we  are  not  moving  towards  the  light  when  we  try  to 
improve  our  condition  of  real  or  supposed  moral  numbness, 
lacerating  our  inner  life  by  self-accusation.  We  only  succeed 
in  automatically  banishing  Christ  from  our  thoughts  by  such 
unhealthy  preoccupation.  Large  numbers  of  people  are  caught 
in  this  net  of  inner  self-contemplation  upon  a  good,  bad,  or 
indifferent  self,  and  all  such  introspective  attitudes  blot  out 
the  Presence.  You  see  illustrations  of  this  tendency  towards 
self-analysis  in  "Amiel's  Journal" — a  certain  brilliant  self- 
examination  which  issues  into  a  sense  of  paralyzing  futility. 
You  see  it  in  "Hamlet,"  producing  melancholy,  inaction, 
dreamy  detachment.  John  Milton,  writing  a  treatise  on 
divorce  on  his  wedding  trip,  reveals  an  analytical  preoccupa- 
tion which  tends  to  chill  human  relationship.  And  it  is  this 
impulse  which  distills  a  dense  fog,  shutting  out  our  glorious 
spiritual  relationships.  Ignorance  of  the  prevalence  of  this  in- 
trospective attitude  among  young  people  in  their  teens  is  part 
of  the  culpable  ignorance  of  large  numbers  of  Christian 
parents.  Months,  it  may  be  years,  of  youthful  misery  caused 
by  earnest  but  misdirected  self-analysis ;  a  beautiful,  and 
naturally  happy  young  spirit  cowed  into  chronic  depression 
and  religious   fear  through  lack  of   help   in  the  direction  of 

52 


OBSTACLES  TO  KNOWING  CHRIST        [V-c] 

objective  healthy-mindedness — the  real  situation  is  often 
never  even  suspected  in  many  a  Christian  home.  All  kinds  of 
religious  duties  and  enterprises  are  zealously  carried  forward 
in  the  family  life,  but  there  is  not  even  a  suspicion  that  a 
sensitive  boy  or  girl  spends  half  of  many  a  night  sleepless, 
worrying  over  an  inner  religious  condition.  And  because 
nothing  is  said  about  it,  or  no  hint  of  it  is  given,  it  is  taken 
for  granted  that  no  acute  and  perplexing  problem  exists.  If 
there  is  one  thing  more  than  another  which  many  a  religiously 
interested  young  person  needs,  it  is  to  help  him  to  turn  his 
thoughts  away  from  himself  to  the  contemplation  of  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  answer  to  all  his  inner  need. 

Ill 

There  is  another  hindrance  to  the  clear  realization  of  Christ 
which  brings  failure  to  many  earnest  efforts,  namely,  the  very 
strong  tendency  to  visualize  a  preconceived  notion  as  to  what 
Christ  will  do  in  one's  life. 

It  is  a  dangerous  thing  to  create  a  preconceived  image  as  to 
what  is  going  to  happen  in  one's  life  when  Christ  enters  into 
it,  because  the  mind  then  centers  upon  one's  own  ideas  of  the 
results  of  Christ's  presence  rather  than  upon  that  presence. 

Our  idea  of  a  reality  may  be  a  totally  different  thing  from 
the  reality  itself.  We  may  lose  the  reality  in  pursuing  the  idea 
of  it.  The  dog  lost  the  bone  by  biting  at  the  reflection  of  it  in 
the  water.  Christian  biographies  are  often  of  the  greatest 
spiritual  value,  and  yet  sometimes  individuals  seize  upon  a 
dramatic,  sensational  experience  in  the  life  of  a  victorious 
Christian,  and  conclude  that  if  spiritual  experience  is  to  be 
real  to  them  it  must  come  in  exactly  the  same  way.  That  is  a 
wrong  and  misleading  conclusion. 

For  example,  if  you  ask  some  who  are  seeking  to  know 
Christ  what  they  are  expecting,  they  may  quote  some  highly 
emotional  incident  from  the  life  of  a  well-known  Christian. 
They  will  tell  you  they  are  waiting  for  that  kind  of  mystical 
attack  to  take  possession  of  them.  This  is  the  attitude  in 
which  earnest  souls  have  been  known  to  remain  expectantly 
for  years.  They  are  wistfully  looking  for  this  kind  of  answer 
to  their  prayers.  Nothing  is  considered  of  any  real  religious 
value  until  this  preconceived  vision  of  mysterious  ecstasy  takes 
hold  of  their  feelings. 

That  is  to  say,  an  effect  is  sought  in  place  of  a  cause.   Emo- 

53 


[V-c]       UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

tion  is  an  effect,  while  the  creative  cause  of  inner  change  is 
the  presence  of  Christ.  It  is  a  disheartening  attitude  to  be 
seeking  a  blessing  rather  than  the  Blesser.  But  that  is  the 
chronic,  disappointed  expectation  of  earnest  seekers  who 
never  seem  to  find  what  they  seek.  And  they  never  will  until 
they  turn  from  all  kinds  of  emotional  imaginings  an^  seek 
only  to  receive  the  living  presence  of  the  Master,  without  sen- 
sational accompaniments.  Effects  do  not  usually  manifest 
themselves  until  the  cause  has  had  time  to  be  established.  You 
do  not  see  the  green  sprout  rising  above  the  ground  from  a 
seed  the  moment  it  is  planted.  Besides,  while  there  may  be 
emotional  results  flowing  from  trust  in  Christ,  such  symptoms 
cannot  be  rested  upon,  because  they  come  and  go.  They  are 
like  glorified  clouds  in  the  sky,  just  as  unstable,  and  as 
fleeting. 

The  mind  must  escape  from  all  thought  of  the  inner  con- 
dition, from  all  thought  of  what  it  imagines  is  going  to  happen 
in  the  way  of  inner  changes,  and  concentrate  wholly  upon  the 
presence  of  Christ.  An  invalid  may  seriously  retard  his 
physical  recovery  by  having  his  thoughts  constantly  centered 
upon  his  symptoms.  Even  where  they  do  not  exist  he  will 
succeed  in  creating  them.  Almost  the  supreme  task  of  his 
friends  is  to  get  that  man's  mind  away  from  himself,  for  there 
can  be  no  progress  so  long  as  the  patient  is  poisoning  the 
springs  of  health  by  black,  morbid  visions  of  disease.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  may  be  almost  as  bad  for  the  sick  man  to  have 
preconceived  inaccurate  images  in  his  mind  of  the  way  in 
which  symptoms  of  his  recovery  will  appear.  If  he  thinks 
that,  having  fulfilled  certain  conditions,  therefore  healing  must 
be  instantly  evident  or  that  healing  should  take  a  certain  pre- 
conceived form,  then  when  it  does  not  happen,  he  is  liable  to 
discouragement.  And  such  discouragement  will  hinder  the 
whole  process  of  recovery.  The  right  attitude  of  his  mind 
would  be  concentrated,  invincible  trust  in  the  means  of  re- 
covery and  the  exclusion  of  thoughts  of  morbid  condition,  and 
also  shutting  out  hasty,  inaccurate,  mental  pictures  of  the  way 
in  which  the  cure  is  coming. 

It  is  Christ  then  who  should  be  the  object  of  our  thought 
and  not  another  person's  experience  of  him,  nor  a  precon- 
ceived notion  of  what  our  experience  should  be,  nor  the  re- 
currence of  the  syjnptoms  of  a  former  experience  which  we 
once  had,  however  real  it  may  have  been  at  that  time. 

54 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  Thoughts  in  Relation  to 
Christ 

DAILY  READINGS 

Sixth  Week,  First  Day :  The  Place  of  Thought  in 
Our  Relation  to  Christ 

Looking  unto  Jesus  the  author  and  perfecter  of  our 
faith,  who  for  the  joy  that  was  set  before  him  endured  the 
cross,  despising  shame,  and  hath  sat  down  at  the  right 
hand  of  the  throne  of  God.  For  consider  him  that  hath 
endured  such  gainsaying  of  sinners  against  himself,  that  ye 
wax  not  weary,  fainting  in  your  souls. — Heb.  12:  2,  3. 

One  may  have  a  large  library  and  little  knowledge.  He  may 
have  much  stored  knowledge,  and  little  actual  thought.  To 
think  upon  anything  is  to  have  an  actual,  present,  immediate 
contact  with  it.  "Thought  is  the  seed  of  action."  Thought  of 
Christ  is  our  point  of  contact  with  him.  Our  thoughts  express, 
or  may  express,  the  other  elements  of  our  personality  in  the 
act  of  contemplation. 

But  so  many  thoughts  never  arrive  at  their  destination ;  they 
are  waylaid,  they  are  sidetracked,  confused.  We  have  tried  to 
indicate  some  of  the  things  that  do  this  mischievous  work,  so 
that  we  may  be  able  to  permit  our  thoughts  actually  to  rest 
upon  Christ.  Hore  is  the  very  heart's  secret  of  the  relation- 
ship, actually  to  make  this  mental  connection — clearly,  calmly, 
deliberately,  to  stay  the  mind  upon  him. 

Have  we  given  this  act  its  true  place  in  our  Christian  life? 
Is  it  not  true  that  we  have  often  overlooked,  minimized,  dis- 
honored, the  place  of  thought  in  the  maintaining  of  relations 
with  Christ?  Our  thought  life  is  like  a  telephone  "central" 
when  the  soul  seeks  fellowship  with  Christ — "central"  some- 
times lets  other  interests  in  upon  the  line  just  as  the  soul 
begins  its  interview,  or  "central"  says  "the  line  is  busy."  And 
so  the  days  go  by. 

55 


[VI-2]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

"When  our  thoughts  are  born 

Though  they  be  good  and  humble  one  should  mind 
How  they  are  reared,  or  some  will  go  astray 
And  shame  their  mother." 

Sixth  Week,  Second  Day:  Thinking  Upon  Christ 
Is  More  Than  Mere  Reverie 

But  let  him  ask  in  faith,  nothing  doubting:  for  he  that 
doubteth  is  like  the  surge  of  the  sea  driven  by  the  wind 
and  tossed.  For  let  not  that  man  think  that  he  Shall 
receive  anything  of  the  Lord;  a  doubleminded  man,  un- 
stable in  all  his  ways. — James  i :  6-8. 

Locke  said  that  "reverie  is  when  ideas  float  in  our  mind 
without  reflection  or  regard  of  the  understanding."  It  is  not 
ah  uncommon  attitude  of  the  mind  in  regard  to  Christ.  There 
exists  an  impression  that  if  the  thoughts  merely  drift  tran- 
quilly in  an  indefinite  kind  of  way  tozvards  spiritual  reality, 
the  end  is  served.  "Watch  the  changing  color  of  the  waves 
that  break  upon  the  idle  seashore  of  the  mind."  And  some 
people  spend  a  good  deal  of  valuable  time  in  this  condition. 
It  may  arise  from  a  superstitious  opinion  that  this  is  religion, 
or  it  may  arise  from  habitual  mental  indolence,  or  it  may  be 
caused  by  sheer  physical  and  mental  weariness,  or  it  may 
spring  from  having  no  clear  objective  before  the  groping 
mind.  But  the  point  at  present  is  that  so  far  as  the  spiritual 
life  is  concerned,  muddled,  addled  thinking  is  not  a  guaranteed 
means  of  grace.  The  tendency  to  seek  always  the  point  of 
least  mental  resistance  in  our  devotional  life  is  a  definite  and 
gross  injustice  to  the  deepest  within  us.  It  is  a  failure  of  the 
mind  to  do  its  part  in  establishing  and  maintaining  relations 
with  Christ.  And  except  when  we  are  exhausted  or  perplexed 
it  is  an  insult  to  him  who  seeks  to  convey  his  wealth  of  divine 
grace  to  our  personality.  Inattention  to  what  a  person  has  to 
say  to  us  is  a  severe  verdict  upon  our  estimate  of  the  value 
of  what  he  has  to  say. 

Is  our  spiritual  communion  mere  reverie,  or  is  it  clear  think- 
ing that  has  actually  made  terminal  connections  ? 

Sixth  Week,  Third  Day:  Thinking  Upon  Christ  a 
,     Growing  Habit  o£  Mental  Attention 

For  though  we  walk  in  the  flesh,  we  do  not  war  accord- 
56 


THE  THOUGHTS  [VI-4] 

ing  to  the  flesh  (for  the  weapons  of  our  warfare  are  not  of 
the  flesh,  but  mighty  before  God  to  the  casting  down  of 
strongholds) ;  casting  down  imaginations,  and  every  high 
thing  that  is  exalted  against  the  knowledge  of  God,  and 
bringing  every  thought  into  captivity  to  the  obedience  of 
Christ. — II  Cor.  10:  3-5. 

Spiritual  contemplation  has  a  definitely  intellectual  element, 
and  it  carries  with  it  a  very  real  intellectual^  as  well  as  general, 
culture.  For  the  needs  of  our  deepest  life  impel  the  mind 
towards  concentration.  "The  one  thing  I  cannot  do  is  to  con- 
centrate in  my  devotional  exercises,"  is  what  one  sometimes 
hears.  And  the  plea  is  offered  that  one  has  not  the  gift  for 
that  sort  of  thing.  But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  one  can  concen- 
trate upon  anything  in  which  he  is  interested.  Interest  quickly 
guarantees  mental  attention.  Whenever  the  object  upon  which 
the  mind  should  rest  is  clear  and  interesting,  concentration  is 
secured.  There  is  really  no  such  thing  as  a  gift  for  concen- 
tration, it  is  a  gift  for  being  interested,  if  you  like.  People 
who  may  be  the  most  listless  in  their  devotional  life  may  be 
past  masters  in  concentration  upon  business. 

The  ideal  mental  relation  would  be  for  us  to  make  Christ 
the  home  of  our  thought.  In  this  attitude  we  would  certainly 
be  redeemed  from  mental  vagrancy.  I  suppose  none  of  us 
would  profess  to  have  attained  to  this.  But  do  not  misunder- 
stand the  idea — it  is  not  that  we  should  always  be  thinking 
about  Christ.  That  literally  carried  out  might  end  in  insanity ; 
it  certainly  would  be  a  complete  perversion  of  the  purpose. 
All  evasion  of  duty  under  the  pretext  of  spiritual  communion 
will  defeat  the  purposes  of  Christ  in  the  equipment  of  human 
life  for  service.  To  have  a  home  does  not  mean  that  we  never 
go  outside  the  door.  It  should  rather  imply  that  we  go  out 
refreshed,  nourished,  inspired ;  we  live  under  the  spell  of  it, 
and  come  back  to  it  as  to  our  haven  of  refuge. 

How  is  interest  in  Christ  deepened  in  order  to  secure  con- 
centration upon  him? 

Sixth  Week,  Fourth  Day:  The  Element  o£  Time 
in  Relation  to  Mental  Attention  Towards  Christ 

And  he  cometh,  and  findeth  them  sleeping,  and  saith 
unto  Peter,  Simon,  sleepest  thou?  couldest  thou  not  watch 
one  hour?    Watch  and  pray,  that  ye  enter  not  into  tempta- 

57 


[VI-5]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

tion:  the  spirit  indeed  is  willing,  but  the  flesh  is  weak. 
And  again  he  went  away,  and  prayed,  saying  the  same 
words.  And  again  he*  came,  and  found  them  sleeping,  for 
their  eyes  were  very  heavy;  and  they  knew  not  what  to 
answer  him.  And  he  cometh  the  third  time,  and  saith 
unto  them,  Sleep  on  now,  and  take  your  rest:  it  is  enough; 
the  hour  is  come;  behold,  the  Son  of  man  is  betrayed  into 
the  hands  of  sinners.  Arise,  let  us  be  going:  behold,  he 
that  betrayeth  me  is  at  hand. — Mark  14:  37-42. 

There  must  be  definite  periods  of  time  given  to  spiritual 
contemplation,  which  is  another  way  of  saying  that  Christian 
living  must  have  the  principle  of  method  in  it.  A  well  ordered 
existence  has  stated  times  .  for  its  various  forms  of  enter- 
prise. We  have  times  for  rest  and  activity,  for  food  and 
labor.  And  such  arrangement  need  not  make  any  man  the 
slave  of  method.  In  any  case,  one  is  less  a  slave  in  obeying 
a  method  than  in  obeying  the  mere  irnpulse  of  a  mood.  Spirit- 
ual failure  often  has  its  starting  place  in  substituting  a  mood 
for  a  method,  so  that  the  contemplation  of  Christ  has  thereby 
become  a  fitful,  uncertain,  vague  experience,  weakened  and 
starved  by  other  influences;  whereas  method,  stated  times, 
clearly  arranged  engagements  for  devotion,  tend  to  tame  and 
discipline  our  wayward  moods  into  reliable  habits. 

No  man  can  tell  another  what  time  .he  must  give  for  the 
culture  of  the  friendship  of  Christ.  But  there  must  be  stated 
seasons  of  communion  and  that  will  mean  sacrifices  in  keep- 
ing the  appointments.  It  is  quite  true  one  may  cultivate  the 
great  friendship  apart  from  those  stated  times  of  quiet  when 
the  door  is  shut.  But  the  deepening  of  intimacy  with  Christ 
rises  out  of  recognized  seasons  of  meditation  and  prayer.  We 
have  fixed  hours  in  which  we  partake  of  food,  the  assimilation 
of  which  goes  on  when  we,  unconscious  of  the  process,  are 
engrossed  in  our  daily  work.  So  it  is  the  fixed  appointments 
with  our  Lord  which  guarantee  the  assimilation  of  his  mind 
into  our  being  when  we  are  about  our  Master's  business. 

Does  your  recognition  of  the  time  element  tend  towards  the 
merely  mechanical? 

Sixth  Week,  Fifth  Day:  The  Active  and  Passive 
Aspects  of  Mental  Attention  Towards  Christ 

And  he  fell  upon  the  earth,  and  heard  a  voice  saying 
unto  him,  Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me?    And  he 

58 


THE  THOUGHTS  [VI-6] 

said,  Who  art  thou,  Lord?  And  he  said,  I  am  Jesus  whom 
thou  persecutest:  but  rise,  and  enter  into  the  city,  and  it 
shall  be  told  thee  what  thou  must  do. — Acts  9 :  4-6. 

When  we  engage  in  a  conversation,  or  when  we  take  up  the 
'^Icphone,  we  usually  exercise  an  active  and  a  passive  mental 
attitude.  We  speak  and  we  listen.  And  in  our  relation  to 
Christ  we  exercise  both  the  active  and  passive  aspects  of  our 
mind.  In  point  of  time  our  speaking  is  sometimes  first,  and 
our  listening  afterwards.  But  in  point  of  emphasis,  the  atti- 
tude of  listening  is  of  primary  importance.  Why?  Because 
Christ  has  more  to  communicate  than  we  have.  To  use  a 
variety  of  New  Testament  metaphors,  he  is  the  vine,  we  are 
the  branches.  He  is  the  mind,  we  are  the  body.  He  is  the 
giver  and  we  are  the  recipients.  He  is  the  leader,  we  are  the 
followers.  And  if  such  is  our  relationship  to  him,  then  the 
primary  emphasis  is  upon  our  mental  receptivity.  It  is  of 
greater  importance  for  us  to  listen  to  him  than  for  us  to  talk 
to  him.  And  when  we  say  this,  it  is  surely  not  belittling  our 
active  prayer  side  in  the  fellowship.  The  fact  is,  a  great  deal 
of  vital  meaning  has  been  emptied  out  of  the  relationship  be- 
cause we  have  sometimes  drowned  the  voice  of  Christ  by  con- 
tinuing our  talking  to  him  beyond  the  bounds  of  reverence. 
We  have  too  often  presumed  to  inform  him  when  we  should 
have  been  humbly  listening.  We  have  made  speaking  an  end 
in  itself.  Have  we  not  said  our  prayers?  is  what  we  some- 
times say  to  ourselves. 

There  are  the  two  aspects,  and  we  would  not  disparage  one 
aspect,  while  calling  for  a  new  recognition  of  the  other. 

In  what  ways  do  we  fulfil  the  recognition  of  the  active  and 
passive  attitudes  in  spiritual  life? 

Sixth  Week,  Sixth  Day:  The  Passive  Attitude  in 
Mental  Attention  Towards  Christ 

And  while  he  said  these  things,  there  came  a  cloud,  and 
overshadowed  them:  and  they  feared  as  they  entered  into 
the  cloud.  And  a  voice  came  out  of  the  cloud,  saying, 
This  is  my  Son,  my  chosen:  hear  ye  him. — Luke  9:  34,  35. 

The  passive  attitude  of  mind  does  not  imply  weakened  at- 
tention. The  artist  in  his  relation  to  nature  is  not  inattentive 
because  he  gives  himself  up  to  the  message  of  the  landscape. 

5Q 


[VI-7]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

He  is  receptive.  He  has  silenced  his  artistic  theories  which 
had  threatened  to  rise  up  and  talk,  and  he  listens  to  the  cre- 
ative message.  In  order  to  listen  successfully  we  must  be  free 
from  preoccupation.  We  observe  every  day  that  a  preoccupied 
man  is  a  poor  listener.  To  be  free  from  preoccupation  im- 
plies living  in  the  present.  It  requires  that  we  shall  not  men- 
tally chase  the  next  thing,  or  be  under  the  lash  of  the  last 
thing.  Some  lives  have  no  real  present,  it  is  all  past  or  future. 
They  are  not  free,  they  are  mortgaged  either  to  yesterday  or 
to  tomorrow.  The  present  for  them  has  simply  no  vital  signifi- 
cance. I  am  not  now  thinking  of  the  multitudes  of  stricken 
children  of  sorrow  when  I  say  this,  for  many  of  them  live 
heroically  in  the  present  far  more  than  do  those  who  are  un- 
touched by  sorrow.  It  is  in  this  attitude  of  passive  attention, 
of  freedom  from  preoccupation,  that  Christ  gets  his  oppor- 
tunity to  communicate  to  us  his  presence,  his  grace,  his  will. 
And  it  is  from  this  receptive  bearing  of  the  mind  that  active 
fidelity  to  the  mind  of  Christ  springs. 

What  are  some  psychological  conditions  of  freedom  from 
mental  preoccupation  in  an  attitude  of  listening? 

Sixth  Week,  Seventh  Day:  The  Active  Attitude  in 
Mental  Attention 

But  be  ye  doers  of  the  word,  and  not  hearers  only,  delud- 
ing your  own  selves.  For  if  any  one  is  a  hearer  of  the 
word  and  not  a  doer,  he  is  like  unto  a  man  beholding  his 
natural  face  in  a  mirror:  for  he  beholdeth  himself,  and 
goeth  away,  and  straightway  forgetteth  what  manner  of 
man  he  was.  But  he  that  looketh  into  the  perfect  law,  the 
law  of  liberty,  and  so  continueth,  being  not  a  hearer  that 
forgetteth  but  a  doer  that  worketh,  this  man  shall  be 
blessed  in  his  doing. — James  i :  22-25. 

Suppose  a  pupil  has  put  himself  under  the  direction  of  a 
great  artist,  what  is  his  active  mental  attitude  towards  his 
teacher?  Four  words  practically  cover  the  main  aspects  of 
that  relation — contemplation,  inquiry,  elimination,  and  trans- 
lation, (i)  The  pupil  contemplates  the  personality  of  his 
master.  His  mind  actively  searches  for  the  secrets  of  his 
power.  If  the  teacher  is  worthy  of  it,  the  pupil  lives  in  an 
attitude  of  active  reverence.  (2)  He  inquires  for  explana- 
tions,  for  directions,   for    guidance.      (3)  He    eliminates    by 

60 


THE  THOUGHTS  [VI-cl 

active  mental  resistance  all  inferior  suggestions  that  might 
injure  the  spell  of  his  master  over  him.  He  throws  off 
mediocre  artistic  influences.  (4)  He  translates  into  artistic 
work  what  his  teacher  has  communicated  to  him  in  his  passive 
attitude. 

Nothing  is  really  ours  till  we  begin  to  translate  it  into  life. 
It  is  in  the  act  of  translation  into  concrete  facts  that  we 
turn  vision  into  character.  It  is  as  we  obey  Christ  that  we 
educate  our  capacity  for  listening.  We  cannot  substitute  con- 
templation for  action.  Some  are  content  to  be  always  listen- 
ing, while  others  are  content  to  be  always  doing. 

Which  is  our  supreme  temptation  in  this  respect? 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 


But  upon  what  in  Christ  shall  the  mind  think?'  Shall  it  be 
his  presence  as  a  whole  as  the  light  of  the  New  Testament 
illumines  it?  Yes.  We  do  this  in  regard  to  other  friends  of 
whom  we  think.  We  have  a  place  in  our  thought  for  thinking 
of  a  personality  as  a  whole,  apart  from  his  specific  work. 
There  are  friends  who  have  helped  us  along  definite  lines  of 
helpfulness,  and  while  we  sometimes  think  of  them  in  these 
practical  relationships,  we  also  think  of  them  simply  as  great 
souls.  Of  course,  the  details  of  relationship  have  given  the 
materials  for  the  general  view.  But  the  point  at  the  moment 
is  that  there  is  a  general  as  well  as  a  particular  contemplation 
of  Christ — just  as  when  we  have  climbed  up  from  the  valley 
to  the  summit  of  a  mountain,  and  have  silently  contemplated 
the  broad  sweep  of  a  glorious  landscape;  or  as  we  close  our 
eyes  after  reading  the  biography  of  an  almost  sublime  char- 
acter, and  try  to  image  the  great  personality,  detached  from 
mundane  affairs,  looming  up  before  our  vision  against  a  back- 
ground of  eternal  spaciousness. 

It  is  this  general  view  of  which  many  are  in  urgent  need. 
They  have  long  been  living  amidst  controversial  biographical 
details,  or  they  have  been  students  of  archeology,  or  of  his- 
torical literary  criticism.  They  have  been  like  botanists  who 
have  sought  out  the  flora  of  the  valley,  but  have  not  seen  the* 
view  from  the  mountain.  One  fears  that  large  numbers  of 
our  young  people  have  been  taken  upon  long  botanical  excur- 
sions through  the  valleys,  but  have  not  so  often  had  an  invita- 

61 


[VI-c]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

tion  to  the  bracing  mountain-top  and  its  awe-inspiring  vista 
of  grandeur.  Is  it  not  most  unfortunate,  too,  that  the  dis- 
cussions one  so  often  hears  regarding  Clirist  have  to  do  so 
exclusively  with  controversial  minutiae  which  would  be  right 
enough  for  theological  scholars?  But  busy,  non-theological, 
common-sense  men  and  women  have  simply  neither  time, 
training,  nor  inclination  for  the  involved  processes  of  dis- 
cussion. Has  mere  criticism  not  been  carried  too  far  into  the 
popular  mind,  while  the  comprehensive  view  of  Christ  has 
been  to  an  unwarrantable  degree  eclipsed? 

Let  us  have  periods  of  contemplation  upon  Christ  when  we 
read  whole  books  of  the  New  Testament  at  a  time.  Let  us 
read  them  over  and  over  until  we  get  the  larger  view.  Let 
us  contemplate  our  Lord  in  his  spiritual  transcendence  until 
we  see  something  of  the  magnitude  of  his  place  in  his  relation 
to  God  and  men,  to  eternity  and  time,  to  the  present  and  the 
future. 

II 

But  there  is  also  a  particular  view  of  Christ  which  must 
engage  our  thoughts.  We  must  see  him  in  his  relation  not 
only  to  the  universal,  but  to  the  actual  situation  in  our  own 
lives.  The  great  characters  of  history  had  not  only  national 
contacts,  they  had  concrete  relations  with  individuals  in  actual 
practical  life.  And  this  has  been  preeminently  the  attitude  of 
Christ.  He  was  in  a  profound  sense  the  discoverer  of  the 
individual.  He  was  the  discoverer  of  the  most  fundamental 
needs  of  the  individual.  He  has  made  the  supreme  diagnosis 
of  the  inner  human  condition.  And  we  rtiust  think  of  him  in 
this  relation.  How  shall  we  do  it?  How  do  you  think  of 
the  physician  when  he  comes  in  response  to  your  calls?  You 
think  of  him  in  relation  to  your  health.  You  think  of  the 
decorator  in  relation  to  the  freshening  up  of  your  rooms. 
Each  has  a  clear  line  of  helpfulness  along  which  he  moves, 
and  for  which  you  invite  him  to  your  house.  In  the  same  way 
Christ  has  a  definite  spiritual  relation  to  our  inner  needs.  And 
zve  must  think  of  him  as  carrying  to  us  in  his  living  person- 
ality the  counterpart  of  our  'necessity.  He  has  always  insisted 
that  this  was  the  line  along  which  we  must  interpret  the 
relationship.  He  has  spoken  of  himself  in  a  variety  of  func- 
tions as  answering  human  need. 

What  then  are  our  needs?  In  the  light  of  them  we  shall 
62 


THE  THOUGHTS  [VI-c] 

interpret  our  thought  of  Christ  in  his  relation  to  us.  One 
fundamental  necessity  is  the  renewal  of  the  conscience,  the 
lifting  of  the  mortgage  of  guilt,  and  the  readjustment  of  the 
moral  sense. 

(i)  We  think  of  Christ  as  having  power  morally  to  for- 
give and  morally  to  restore.  That  is  to  say,  the  mind  turns 
to  think  of  him  as  having  the  moral  authority  and  compassion 
to  forgive  on  the  one  hand,  and  transcendent,  communicable 
holiness  by  zvhich  to  quicken  the  conscience  on  the  other.  In 
our  contemplation  of  him  we  think  of  him  as  having  a  dele- 
gated authority  given  by  God  and  shared  by  no  other  for  the 
forgiving  of  human  guilt.  We  meditate  upon  him  as  exer- 
cising that  authority  in  our  lives,  in  conjunction  with  his  own 
power — issuing  from  his  spiritual  presence — to  renew  the 
conscience.  We  think  therefore,  of  Christ  in  relation  to  our 
present  moral  condition  as  bearing  an  attitude  of  active,  suf- 
ficient, and  immediate  inner  restoration  towards  us.  "He  re- 
storeth  my  soul." 

(2)  We  think  of  him  as  enlightening  our  understanding  as 
we  contemplate  him  as  our  wisdom,  and  as  such  revealing 
his  mind  to  us.  When  we  read  a  great  book  we  are  conscious 
of  having  our  minds  stimulated,  clarified.  As  we  listen  to  a 
wise  man  we  realize  that  our  minds  become  illumined  and  we 
go  away  with  a  new  vision.  How  much  Plato  owed  to  So- 
crates in  the  stimulation  of  his  mental  originality!  And  as 
we  think  of  the  mind  of  Christ  being  revealed  to  us  in  active 
overtures  of  definite  direction,  the  eyes  of  our  understanding 
become  enlightened.  To  such  a  degree  is  this  the  case  that 
tho3e  who  thus  meditate  upon  him  become  shairers  of  a  wis- 
dom transcending  that  of  men  much  wiser  in  other  directions. 

(3)  We  think  of  Christ  as  comniunicating  moral  pozver  to 
us.  We  image  "the  exceeding  greatness  of  his  power  to 
usward  who  believe."  We  visualize  him  as  being  in  an  active 
immediate  relation  to  us  of  communicating  his  energy. 

I  have  mentioned  these  directions  along  which  our  thoughts 
move  in  relation  to  Christ  simply  to  illustrate  the  point  that 
it  is  not  enough  merely  to  think  of  Christ  in  a  general  zvay. 
We  must  intelligently  consider  Christ  as  bringing  to  bear  upon 
the  variety  of  our  human  need  the  variety  of  his  suificiency. 
And  in  our  meditation  we  ought  to  take  time  to  think  deliber- 
ately of  him  in  the  various  aspects  of  his  redeeming  relation — 
not  as  remote  from  us — not  as  something  that  is  possible  and 

63 


[VI-c]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

may  happen  in  the  future — but  as  something  that  is  happening 
within  us  at  this  present  moment. 

Ill 

It  is  surely  a  great  mistake  to  live  in  an  attitude  of  mere 
moral  or  spiritual  aspiration, «more  or  less  confused.  Such  is 
the  chronic  condition  of  large  numbers  of  well-meaning 
people. 

They  mistake  religious  aspiration  for  Christian  character. 
Ardent  and  muddled  longing  takes  the  place  of  a  clear  view 
of  the  situation.  The  same  confused  contact  with  home,  or 
business,  or  friends,  would  mean  the  collapse  of  the  relation- 
ship. As  a  matter  of  fact  while  there  may  be  a  very  definite 
place  for  religious  aspiration,  the  supreme  place  of  emphasis 
is  not  upon  aspiration,  but  upon  the  intelligent  recognition 
that  Christ  maintains  a  certain  immediate,  active  bearing 
towards  our  personality.  The  emphasis  at  the  breakfast  table 
is  not  upon  the  aspiration  for  breakfast,  but  upon  the  food 
in  sight,  and  the  actual  partaking  of  it.  The  emphasis  at  the 
railway  station  is  not  upon  the  longing  to  go  to  a  certain 
place,  it  is  upon  actually  getting  into  the  right  train. 

There  is  a  great  amount  of  mere  futile  longing  in  the 
religious  attitude  of  some  people.  And  if  that  longing  were 
clear  cut  it  would  not  be  so  bad,  but  unfortunately  it  is  often 
only  a  kind  of  stupid  earnestness  and  the  stupidity  is  excused 
because  of  the  earnestness.  But  even  when  this  longing  is 
not  stupid  or  confused,  the  emphasis  should  not  be  put  on  the 
longing,  but  upon  a  clear  visualization  and  active  relation 
towards  the  object  of  the  longing.  Suppose  you  were  to  tell 
your  host  as  you  sit  at  his  table  that  you  greatly  desired  to 
partake  of  the  luncheon  he  has  provided.  You  might  even 
enumerate  the  things  you  would  enjoy;  and  suppose  you  con- 
tinued to  sit  in  this  detached  and  longing  attitude,  he  would 
begin  to  be  worried  about  you.  And  yet,  in  all  seriousness,  this 
is  the  attitude  of  some  in  regard  to  the  spiritual  sufficiency 
that  is  in  Christ.  Their  religious  history  is  largely  aspiration. 
It  is  largely  religious  self-consciousness.  The  emphasis  of 
their  thoughts  is  upon  their  condition  and  longings.  And  that 
has  become  a  chronic  condition.  They  have  a  grim  satisfac- 
tion in  knowing  what  their  specific  longings  are,  but  there  is 
no  real  progress  beyond  that.     The  same  ground  is  covered 

64 


THE  THOUGHTS  [VI-c] 

today  that  was  covered  yesterday,  and  it  has  been  so  for  a 
dozen  years.     What  is  the  matter? 

The  trouble  probably  arises  from  the  absence  of  a  clear 
vision  of  Christ  in  his  specific,  iniviediate  relation  to  human 
need.  Christ  is  not  seen,  at  this  given  moment,  as  actually 
bearing  in  his  own  personality  the  answer  to  the  needs  of 
which  one  is  conscious. 

For  instance,  if  you  are  thirsty  and  there  is  no  water  zvithin 
reach  you  keep  thinking  about  your  thirst.  But  when  you 
come  into  contact  with  a  supply  of  water,  you  put  the  em- 
phasis of  your  thought  on  the  water  and  not  upon  your  dis- 
appearing thirst.  It  is  a  lack  of  seeing  Christ  clearly  that  is 
probably  the  trouble  with  this  attitude  of  futile  aspiration 
that  never  arrives.  Well,  you  say,  how  is  one  to  see  him 
clearly?  We  have  gone  over  that  already.  But  it  does  not 
matter  how  often  we  go  over  it,  if  we  insist  upon  being  taken 
up  with  our  religious  aspirations  instead  of  with  Christ,  we 
cannot  see  him  clearly,  and  we  never  shall  in  that  attitude, 
and  nothing  spiritually  vital  therefore  can  happen.  But  if  we 
transfer  the  emphasis  of  our  thought  to  him  and  the  specific 
elements  of  his  personality  through  which  he  communicates 
his  grace  to  us,  and  forget  about  our  aspirations,  as  we  con- 
template him,  we  shall  unconsciously  be  changed  into  his 
image. 


65 


CHAPTER  VII 

The  Will  in  Relation  to  Christ 


DAILY  READINGS 

Seventh  Week,  First  Day:  The  Supremacy  o£  the 
Will 

If  any  man  willeth  to  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the 
teaching,  whether  it  is  of  God,  or  whether  I  speak  from 
myself. — John  7:  17. 

Our  will  is  the  focus  point  of  our  personality.  As  we  will, 
we  live.  As  we  do  not  will,  we  drift.  Life  is  fundamentally 
will  and  we  know  it.  If  will  is  the  king,  as  it  were,  in  the 
inner  life,  he  must  be  a  constitutional  king — he  may  rule,  but 
not  overrule.  He  may  be  an  executive,  but  not  a  tyrant.  That 
is  to  say,  will  has  a  definite  relation  to  all  the  other  powers  of 
our  being,  but  not  a  coercive  relation.  Will  has  a  vital  rela- 
tion to  the  reason,  but  it  must  not  be  despotic.  We  cannot 
zvill  to  believe  what  is  obviously  false.  That  would  be  a 
despotic  use  of  the  will.  At  the  same  time,  we  must  will  to 
believe  what  reasonably  claims  us ;  if  not,  then  will  is  a  slave 
instead  of  an  executive. 

We  must  not  will  to  imprison  our  affections,  but  we  must 
will  to  regulate  them.  Our  will  affects  the  rest  of  us,  and  is 
affected  by  the  rest  of  us.  But  the  point  we  would  emphasize 
here  is  that  it  is  the  executive  for  the  personality.  And  ac- 
cording as  it  lives  and  acts  healthily  so  zvill  be  the  health  of 
the  rest  of  our  poivers.  It  zvould  be  small  use  to  keep  inform- 
ing a  man's  mind  zvhose  zvill  is  out  of  business.  You  might 
as  well  try  to  fill  up  a  bottomless  pit. 

Do  we  live  recognizing  that  the  condition  of  our  will  is 
imparting  light  or  darkness  to  our  mind? 

66 


THE  WILL  [VII-2] 

Seventh  Week,  Second  Day:  Christ's  Relation  to 
Our  Will 

He  was  in  the  world,  and  the  world  was  made  through 
him,  and  the  world  knew  him  not.  He  came  unto  his  own, 
and  they  that  were  his  own  received  him  not.  But  as  many 
as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  the  right  to  become  chil- 
dren of  God,  even  to  them  that  believed  on  his  name: 
who  were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh, 
nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God. — John  i :  10-13. 

The  will  is  the  door  of  personality.  Christ  will  not,  cannot, 
break  open  that  door.  Even  to  redeem  us  he  will  not  invade 
our  personality.  He  recognizes,  respects,  and  safeguards  our 
personal  identity,  our  native  freedom  of  choice.  If  he  were 
to  overpower  us,  even  for  our  highest  good,  nothing  moral 
would  be  achieved.  He  would  thus  in  reality  destroy  us  as 
persons.  In  the  very  nature  of  things,  Christ  cannot  force 
himself  or  his  redeeming  grace  upon  us.  And  the  man  who 
says  divine  love  will  save  him  apart  from  his  own  will,  has 
forgotten  that  even  divine  love  must  wait  for  the  cooperation 
of  the  human  will.  But  the  only  separation  between  our  per- 
sonality and  the  presence  and  power  of  Christ  is  our  will. 
There  is  nothing  that  lies  between  the  deepest  needs  of  our 
life  and  the  wealth  of  his  sufficiency  except  our  will.  Pause 
and  measure  the  extent  of  that  separation.  Refusal  means  a 
barrier  of  non-conduction.  Assent  means  that  the  actual  con- 
tact has  been  established.  The  action  of  the  will  is  like  turn- 
ing on  or  turning  off  the  water  in  the  house. 

.  Have  we  exercised  our  will  in  relation  to  Christ  as  we  have 
done  in  some  other  great  decisions? 


Seventh  Week,  Third  Day:  The  Will  Deciding 

And  he  led  him  to  Jerusalem,  and  set  him  on  the  pin- 
nacle of  the  temple,  and  said  unto  him,  If  thou  art  the 
Son  of  God,  cast  thyself  down  from  hence:  for  it  is  written, 

He   shall    give   his   angels    charge    concerning   thee,   to 
guard  thee: 
and. 

On  their  hands  thej'  shall  bear  thee  up, 

Lest  haply  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a  stone. 
And  Jesus  answering  said  unto  him,  It  is  said,  Thou  shalt 
not  make  trial  of  the  Lord  thy  God. — Luke  4:  9-12. 

67 


[VII-4]   UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

It  is  not  difficult  actually  to  jump  from  a  height,  but  it  may 
be  very  difficult  to  make  up  the  mind  to  do  it.  It  is  not 
usually  hard  to  take  any  actual  step,  it  is  the  previous  pro 
and  con  debate  that  is  the  real  difficulty. 

The  act  of  will  which  is  the  life's  blood  of  a  decision  creates 
an  historic  moment.  There  we  are  at  the  heart  of  reality 
and  sometimes  we  know  it  and  feel  it.  We  can  all  think  of 
great  movements  which  were  born  in  that  moment  of  an 
heroic  decision.  There  are  multitudes  who  live  all  their  days 
under  the  spell  of  one  great  hour.  We  realize  that  it  is  within 
our  power  to  create  a  personal  crisis  by  an  act  of  will.  We 
know,  too,  it  may  be,  that  as  we  postpone  that  crisis,  we  post- 
pone real  living.  JVe  knozv  it  is  possible  at  this  moment  to 
resolve  that  Christ  shall  have  a  nezv  nearness  to,  a  new  grasp 
upon,  our  life.  Is  there  anything  more  momentous  than  that? 
Is  there  anything  more  immediately  practical  and  far  reach- 
ing? Is  there  anything  that  has  such  promise  throbbing  in  it 
as  the  resolve  to  open  the  door  to  Christ  now? 

Is  there  anything  more  tragic  than  to  let  any  set  of  circum- 
stances compel  a  decision  against  Christ,  when  our  own  sense 
of  right  would  crown  him? 

Seventh  Week,  Fourth  Day :  The  Will  Surrender- 
ing 

And  when  Jesus  came  to  the  place,  he  looked  up,  and 
said  unto  him,  Zacchaeus,  make  haste,  and  come  down;  for 
to-day  I  must  abide  at  thy  house.  And  he  made  haste,  and 
came  down,  and  received  him  joyfully.  And  when  they 
saw  it,  they  all  murmured,  saying,  He  is  gone  in  to  lodge 
with  a  man  that  is  a  sinner.  And  Zacchaeus  stood,  and  said 
unto  the  Lord,  Behold,  Lord,  the  half  of  my  goods  I  give 
to  the  poor;  and  if  I  have  wrongfully  exacted  aught  of 
any  man,  I  restore  fourfold. — Luke  19:  5-8. 

When  a  man  takes  the  plunge  into  an  unknown  future  by 
a  moral  decision,  he  commits  himself  to  cooperate  with  forces- 
which  begin  to  exercise  a  new  and  powerful  directing  influ- 
ence upon  him.  And  when  one  has  willed  Christ  to  enter  his 
life  he  has  in  a  real  sense  abandoned  himself  to  the  control 
of  Christ.  This  is  not  to  say  that  Christ  has  come  into  his 
life  to  help  him  to  muddle  through.  The  step  involves  the 
supremacy  of  Christ.    It  is  as  if  a  man,  not  having  made  a 

68 


THE  WILL  [VII-5] 

success  of  his  business,  asked  a  rich  and  wise  friend  to  help 
him.  His  friend,  refusing  to  help  him,  says,  however,  that  he 
will  take  over  the  business  as  a  senior  partner  and  put  all  his 
capital  and  experience  into  it,  if  the  man  seeking  help  is  will- 
ing to  assume  the  position  of  junior  partner. 

That  is  what  the  decision  to  receive  Christ  implies.  Christ's 
purpose  is  to  take  control,  cooperating  with  the  will  of  him 
who  has  willed  the  Master  into  his  life.  Christ  becomes  the 
senior  partner.  Our  relation  to  Christ  is  not  to  try  to  get  him 
and  his  power  into  our  schemes,  but  to  surrender  ourselves 
to  him  and  his  schemes. 

Is  our  idea  of  surrender  that  of  an  act  or  of  a  lifelong 
attitude? 

Seventh  Week,  Fifth  Day:  The  Will  Appropriat- 
ing Strength 

That  he  would  grant  you,  according  to  the  riches  of  his 
glory,  that  ye  may  be  strengthened  with  power  through 
his  Spirit  in  the  inward  man;  that  Christ  may  dwell  in 
your  hearts  through  faith;  to  the  end  that  ye,  being  rooted 
and  grounded  in  love,  may  be  strong  to  apprehend  with  all 
the  saints  what  is  the  breadth  and  length  and  height  and 
depth,  and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ  which  passeth 
knowledge,  that  ye  may  be  filled  unto  all  the  fulness  of 
God. — Eph.  3:  16-19. 

When  an  electrical  inventor  patiently  recognizes  and  sur- 
renders his  mechanism  to  the  laws  of  electrical  conduction 
he  also  appropriates  those  laws  and  hitches  them  victoriously 
to  his  invention.  When  the  patriot  sacrificially  surrenders  to 
the  demands  of  his  countr}^  he  is  able  to  appropriate  into 
himself  the  essential  spirit  of  his  country.  And  when  the 
Christian  will  has  surrendered  to  the  supreme  will  of  Christ 
it  is  able  to  appropriate  the  energy  that  is  in  the  will  of  Christ. 
It  is  the  surrendered  will  that  dares  to  appropriate  fresh 
power  from  Christ,  the  power  of  God. 

This  attitude  of  the  will"  of  appropriating  may  be  likened  to 
the  recharging  of  the  spent  electrical  battery  by  contact  with 
the  current  flowing  from  the  power-house.  It  is  the  priv- 
ilege of  the  exhausted  Christian  will  to  renew  its  vitality  by 
contact  with  its  source  of  supply.  The  consenting  will  may 
be  changed  into  the  energetic  will.     What  is   static  becomes 

69 


[VII-6]    UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

dynamic.  Capacity  becomes  ability.  But  it  is  only  the  will 
that  wears  itself  out  in  obedience  to  Christ  which  has  the 
fearless  trust  to  claim  the  energy  for  its  own  renewal.  It  is 
our  right  now  to  let  our  weariness  be  changed  into  might. 

Is  inner  exhaustion,  or  power,  the  supreme  element  in  our 
consciousness  ? 

Seventh  Week,  Sixth  Day:  The  Will  Cooperating 
with  Christ 

Go  ye  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  nations,  bap- 
tizing them  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son 
and  of  the  Holy  Spirit:  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things 
whatsoever  I  commanded  you:  and  lo,  I  am  with  you 
always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world. — Matt  28:  19,  20. 

The  secret  of  the  growth  of  the  pozvcr  of  many  men  has 
consisted  in  a  great  partnership.  They  became  sharers  in  large 
resources  and  comprehensive  programs.  They  brought  their 
wills  into  tune  with  a  movement  greater  than  themselves. 
Christ  focuses  the  power  of  God  and  the  program  for  the  com- 
ing of  his  Kingdom  upon  earth.  Whoever  cooperates  with 
Christ  becomes  a  sharer  in  both  the  program  and  the  power. 
Both  of  these  challenge  the  Christian  will.  Christ  calls  upon  a 
man  to  do  something  he  had  never  dream.ed  of  doing,  and 
which  he  has  no  power  to  achieve.  It  may  be  to  influence  spir- 
itually another  life.  It  may  be  to  undertake  a  new  specific 
social  task.  Such  a  command  carries  with  it  the  ability  for  the 
task.  In  the  attempt  to  fulfil  the  command,  the  power  of 
Christ  gets  its  opportunity  to  accompany  the  attempt.  The  co- 
operating will  of  a  Christian  thus  obtains  its  expansive  educa- 
tion. It  achieves  its  supreme  destiny  through  the  enterprise 
of  Christ.  This  is  the  message  to  us  from  the  great  char- 
acters of  the  New  Testament  and  of  Christian  history.  Their 
greatness  unconsciously  came  to  them  in  their  self-forgetting 
attitude  of  cooperation  with  the  will  of  their  Master.  What 
they  saw  was  a  gigantic  task,  what  they  experienced  was 
triumphant  power. 

Think  of  the  men  and  women  who  have  become  great 
through  contact  with  Christ's  missionary  program,  through 
expressing  his  social  sympathy. 

Are  we  definitely  related  to  the  universal  program  of 
Christ? 

70 


THE  WILL  [VII-7] 

Seventh  Week,  Seventh  Day:  The  Will  Forgetting^ 

Itself 

For  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  made  me 
free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  of  death.  For  what  the  law 
could  not  do,  in  that  it  was  weak  through  the  flesh,  God, 
sending  his  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh  and 
for  sin,  condemned  sin  in  the  flesh:  that  the  ordinance  of 
the  law  might  be  fulfilled  in  us. — Rom.  8:  2-4. 

"If  only  I  could  will  hard  enough.  That  is  my  trouble,  I 
have  not  sufficient  will  power."  How  often  one  hears  a  state- 
ment like  that.  But  it  is  an  entirely  wrong  point  of  view. 
In  our  relation  to  Christ  it  is  not  thought  about  our  will,  but 
about  him  that  is  the  place  of  emphasis.  For  example,  sup- 
pose someone  knocks  at  your  door.  You  do  not  think  of  your 
will,  and  its  condition,  you  think  of  the  knock  at  the  door, 
and  your  will  acts  automatically  as  a  result  of  that  attitude  of 
your  thoughts.  It  is  the  person  knocking  at  the  door  who 
affects  your  will.  Thatjs  to  say,  ive  must  not  think  zvill,  we 
must  think  Christ.  We  might  think  will  for  years  and  be  no 
further  forward ;  whereas  when  we  let  the  mind  rest  steadily 
upon  Christ  the  will  is  thereby  renewed.  The  only  healthy 
way  in  which  to  grow  in  will  power  is  to  forget  about  it,  and 
visualize  clearly  the  presence,  power,  and  commands  of  Christ. 
Will  power  is  a  by-product.  Christ-consciousness  is  a  far 
greater  creator  of  will  power,  than  will  power  is  a  cre- 
ator of  Christ-consciousness.  Will  zvorship  increases  self- 
consciousness  and  eclipses  Christ.  Our  spiritual  power  and 
victory  can  be  realized  only  as  we  maintain  the  relation  which 
is  beyond  ourselves. 

Do  we  think  will  power  or  divine  power?  Do  we  think 
ourselves  or  beyond  ourselves? 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 
I 

When  a  person  arrives  at  a  certain  conclusion,'  say  regard- 
ing another  person,  you  may  not  doubt  the  honesty  or  the 
ability  of  his  judgment.  But  you  may  feel  that  the  judgment 
lacked  something.  You  say,  for  example,  that  it  is  a  weak  or 
an  uncharitable  judgment,  zvhich  means  that  you  do  not  be- 
iieve  pure  reason  should  act  by  itself  in  making  a  judgment 

71 


[VII-c]    UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

upon  a  person.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  pure  reason  never  does 
so  act.  There  are  always  other  influences  beneath  the  reason 
and  beneath  the  consciousness  which  affect  the  decisions  of 
the  mind.  That  is  why  we  say  we  reveal  our  own  characters 
in  our  judgments  of  others.  We  make  manifest  what  things 
are  influencing  the  mind,  whether  they  are  good  or  bad.  So 
we  say  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  pure  reason  in  our 
relation  to  Jesus  Christ.  We  bring  all  that  we  are  to  that 
judgment.  And  instead  of  judging  him,  we  may  be  uncon- 
sciously judging  ourselves.  Men  certainly  did  that  in  their 
personal  relations  to  him  when  he  lived  as  a  man.  We  are 
constantly  doing  it  in  our  own  relationships  with  our  fellows. 
Our  criticisms  som.etimes  are  not  really  criticisms,  they  are 
self-revelations.  They  are  a  credit  to  us  or  they  are  the  re- 
verse. If  they  are  a  discredit,  the  merely  intellectual  part  may 
be  very  shrewd  indeed,  but  the  intellect  has  not  had  the 
right  kind  of  illumination  from  the  rest  of  the  personality.  It 
is  when  people  know  this  about  themselves  that  they  some- 
times learn  not  to  trust  their  own  judgment,  and  they  turn 
to  others  who  may  not  be  in  any  sens*e  so  clever  mentally,  but 
who  have  sounder  elements  in  their  personalities  which  in- 
form their  intellects. 

What  we  wish  to  do  here  is  to  emphasize  this  fact  and  try  to 
recognize  a  principle.  If  one  finds  a  very  strong  hesitation 
to  trust  his  own  harsh  judgment  regarding  a  fellow-man,  and 
rounds  out  his  impressions  by  reference  to  the  opinions  of 
others,  making  his  judgment  more  kindly  and  gracious  and 
full,  he  must  let  that  principle  have  a  place  in  his  life  in  re- 
gard to  Christ. 

II 

Among  the  influences  which  affect  the  judgment  for  weal  or 
woe  none  is  more  effective  than  the  condition  of  the  human 
will.  Christ  insisted  upon  the  enormous  influence  of  the  will 
upon  the  whole  realm  of  knowledge,  not  by  being  conscious  of 
itself,  but  by  acting  in  response  to  light.  He  insisted  that  he 
who  doeth  shall  know.  Frederick  W.  Robertson  has  told  us 
that  obedience  is  the  organ  of  spiritual  vision.  We  have  all 
put  this  to  the  proof  again  and  again.  We  have  held  certain 
ideas,  let  us  say,  during  a  period  of  inaction,  and  when  the 
will  has  acted  the  whole  outlook  has  changed  without  anyone 
having  said  anything.    Or  when  we  have  been  disobedient  the 

72 


THE  WILL  [VII-c] 

situation  has  changed  in  the  opposite  way.  The  influences  of 
the  condition  of  the  will  upon  our  mental  vision  may  be  sim- 
ply startling — so  much  so  that  a  new  volitional  attitude  may 
mean  an  absolutely  new  view  of  a  given  situation — and  yet 
when  we  say  this  let  us  remember  the  renewal  of  thejvill  is  not 
achieved  by  thought  of  itself.  An  hour  of  reality  proceeding 
from  an  active  will  has  given  many  a  man  a  new  universe  to  live 
in.  What  had  before  appeared  to  be  intolerable,  and  no  argu- 
ment could  change  it,  became  like  a  bank  of  cloud  in  the  sky 
suddenly  transfigured  into  surpassing  beauty  as  the  sun  played 
upon  it.  What  large  numbers  of  people  require,  therefore, 
is  not  more  information  and  discussion,  but  more  illumination 
arising  from  the  legitimate  and  healthy  relation  of  the  will  to 
the  mind.  We  are  not  here  pleading  the  cause  of  the  will  to 
believe;  we  are  simply  insisting  upon  the  automatic  inter- 
relation of  the  faculties,  "The  will  to  believe"  may  mean  an 
entirely  artificial  relation  to  reality.  As  the  idea  is  sometimes 
popularly  understood,  "the  will  to  believe"  may  simply  be  the 
violation  of  intellectual  integrity,  a  kind  of  highwayman  with 
a  cocked  pistol  saying  to  the  reason  "Money  or  your  life." 
That  kind  of  thing  can  have  no  place  in  a  rational  existence. 
But  the  natural,  normal  influence  of  the  will  upon  the  pro- 
cesses of  thought  is  an  entirely  different  matter. 

Let  us  see  to  it  then  that  the  active  will  is  doing  its  share 
in  the  true  vision  of  life.  The  purely  intellectual  attitude  is 
unhealthy,  abnormal,  deceptive.  It  is  not  really  rational  liv- 
ing. Many  people  think  it  is,  for  they  put  no  great  emphasis 
upon  living.  A  man  may  have  a  will  as  weak  as  water  and 
keep  his  affairs  like  a  junk  shop.  He  may  have  no  kind  of 
relation  to  the  ordinary  facts  of  social  existence,  no  memory 
for  his  engagements,  no  contact  with  concrete  reality,  and  yet 
because  he  has  a  keen  mind  and  is  an  original  thinker  every- 
thing is  excused.  But  surely  that  is  not  the  attitude  in  which 
we  see  reality.  For  what  we  see  must  always  depend  upon 
what  we  bring  from  our  deeper  selves  to  our  mental  vision. 
Robert  Browning  in  "Andrea  del  Sarto"  declares  that  intel- 
lectual power  unaided  by  the  moral  will  was  responsible  for 
the  limitations  which  the  painter  saw  in  his  artistic  work.  He 
makes  the  artist  say  that  he  sees  a  truer  light  of  God  burning 
in  the  work  of  certain  other  men,  though  their  talent  is  feebler 
than  his  own. 

Fra  Angelico  painting  angels  on  his  knees  may  not  com- 

73 


[VII-c]   UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

mand  your  unqualified  enthusiasm.     But  at  any  rate  he  had 
more  of  the  secret  of  insight  than  had  Andrea  del  Sarto. 

When  a  critic  said  to  a  great  artist,  "I  never  saw  such  a 
sunset  as  you  have  painted,"  the  artist  replied,  "Do  you  not 
wish  yoji  had  the  vision?" 

■  III 

The  will  not  only  gives  health  to  the  mind,  it  translates  into 
actual,  concrete  facts  what  the  mind  sees.  The  will  bridges 
the  gulf  between  perceiving  the  truth  and  living  it.  It  turns 
vision  into  life.  The  enlightened  will  moralizes  the  intel- 
lectual outlook.  When  the  intellect  sees,  and  the  will  does 
not  act  upon  what  the  intellect  sees,  then  the  intellectual  does 
not  become  the  moral.  It  does  not  matter  how  clear,  or 
■original,  or  accurate,  the  mental  vision  may  be,  it  does  not 
ibecome  moral  reality  until  the  will  puts  its  signature  upon  it. 
How  much  intellectual  comprehension  never  gets  down  to  life ! 
How  much  interest  in  religion  reaches  no  further  than  the 
intellectual  perception  of  truth !  The  climax  of  the  interest 
'Of  some  is  simply  a  discussion,  an  intellectual  admission,  a 
recognition  of  reasonableness.  The  whole  aim  of  many  people 
as  simply  to  get  other  people  to  make  certain  mental  admis- 
sions regarding  Christianity.  And  suppose  the  admission  is 
made,  and  no  translation  of  it  is  made  by  the  will  into  life, 
how  futile  it  all  becomes. 

This  is  the  great  weakness  of  a  mere  apologetic  interest  in 
Christ.  That,  of  course,  has  it's  own  important  place,  but  if 
the  interest  is  to  go  no  further,  then  it  is  of  minor  importance. 
A  merely  intellectual  interest  in  Christ  or  in  Christianity  does 
not  raise  that  interest  above  the  academic.  It  may  not  have 
any  more  religion  in  it  than  an  interest  in  any  other  purely 
academic  subject.  The  man  who  is  related  to  Christian  truth 
only  through  his  brain  may  be  an  out  and  out  pagan,  and  all 
the  more  pagan  because  he  keeps  such  high  realities  apart 
from  the  practical  aspect  of  his  life.  Let  us  get  away  from 
the  idea  that  mere  mental  association  with  even  the  highest 
spiritual  truth  is  in  itself  meritorious.  For  if  it  leads  us  no 
further,  if  it  is  not  translated  by  the  will  into  character  and 
social  fact,  then  it  may  be  that  the  light  in  us  becomes  dark- 
ness. 

It  is  31  terrible  mistake  to  trifle  with  spiritual  things,  to  deal 
in  them  as  a  storekeeper  deals  in  his  wares,  without  being 

74 


THE  WILL  [VII-cJ 

personally  related  to  them.  That  spells  moral  degradation. 
That  is  professionalism  of  the  rankest  kind.  When  the  will 
refuses  to  carry  out  to  moral  completion  the  spiritual  truth 
recognized  by  the  mind,  such  refusal  not  only  reacts  dam- 
agingly  on  the  will,  it  reacts  in  the  same  way  upon  the  mind. 
The  mental  vision  in  spiritual  things  has  begun  to  be  impaired 
— not  all  at  once,  any  more  than  eyesight  becomes  impaired 
all  at  once — but  the  process  has  started.  Until  the  attitude 
of  the  will  changes  upward,  a  man  has  spiritually  seen  his 
best  days.  So  far  as  his  apprehension  of  spiritual  truth  is 
concerned,  he  remains  the  victim  of  trusting  more  to  his  mem- 
ory of  what  once  was  real  to  him,  than  to  his  vision  of  what 
is  real  to  him  today.  Such  is  the  difference  between  preserved 
fruit  and  fruit  fresh  from  the  tree.  It  is  like  the  difference 
between  a  moving  picture  and  the  actual  scene. 

It  is  then  as  the  will  continues  to  translate  into  life  what 
the  enlightened  mind  sees,  that  there  is  given  to  us  the  guar- 
antee of  more  enlightenment  of  mind.  For  there  is  a  con- 
tinual increase  of  insight  issuing  from  the  action  of  the  alert 
and  heroic  will.  It  is  our  supreme  method  of  spiritual  illumi- 
nation. Such  illumination  is  not  merely  an  extension  of  the 
range  of  our  knowledge ;  it  also  becomes  part  of  the  moral 
working  capital  of  our  personality. 

The  most  urgent  problem  in  the  lives  of  some  Is  to  bridge 
the  chasm  between  intellectual  perception  and  action.  Are  we 
ever  learning,  but  never  coming  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth? 


75 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Imagination  in  Relation  to 
Christ 

DAILY  READINGS 

Eighth    Week,    First    Day:    Imagination    as    the 
Pioneer  Faculty  Upwards 

Now  faith  is  assurance  of  things  hoped  for,  a  conviction 
of  things  not  seen.  For  therein  the  elders  had  witness 
borne  to  them. — Heb.  ii:  i;  2. 

Faith  expresses  itself  in  part  through  the  imagination,  for 
it  is  in  the  nature  of  faith  to  visualize  its  object,  and  such 
visualization  is  possible  through  the  use  of  the  imagination. 
The  imagination  is  the  highest  faculty  we  possess.  And  if  it  is 
under  the  highest  direction  and  control  it  fulfils  a  sublime 
function.  It  is  like  fire — without  control  it  may  work  havoc, 
ibut,  when  properly  guided,  it  may  perform  the  greatest 
service. 

Imagination  is  the  power  within  us  which  reaches  out, 
which — like  the  swallow — ventures  to  another  clime.  It  is  not 
content  to  live  like  the  chickens  around  the  barnyard.  It 
makes  the  great  venture  in  business,  in  exploration,  in  liter- 
ature, in  science,  in  art,  in  everything  that  is  really  worth 
while.  Without  imagination  we  would  be  helpless  prisoners 
in  the  grip  of  circumstance.  Life  would  have  no  poetry,  no 
romance,  nothing  really  picturesque.  All  that  has  been 
achieved  which  is  of  permanent  worth  in  the  life  of  the  world 
has  been  achieved  primarily  through  imagination.  Imagination 
has  been  the  architect  of  it.  And  what  is  imagination?  It  is 
the  venture  of  the  highest  in  us. 

What  would  you  say  to  the  man  who  says  he  has  no  imag- 
ination ? 

76 


THE  IMAGINATION  [VIII-2] 

Eighth  Week,   Second   Day:   Imagination  as  the 
Pioneer  Faculty  Downwards 

And  even  as  they  refused  to  have  God  in  their  knowl- 
edge, God  gave  them  up  unto  a  reprobate  mind,  to  do 
those  things  which  are  not  fitting;  being  filled  with  all 
unrighteousness,  wickedness,  covetousness,  maliciousness; 
full  of  envy,  murder,  strife,  deceit,  malignity;  whisperers, 
backbiters,  hateful  to  God,  insolent,  haughty,  boastful,  in- 
ventors of  evil  things,  disobedient  to  parents. — Rom. 
i:  28-30. 

There  is  no  escape  from  the  fact  that  we  possess  imagina- 
tion any  more  than  from  the  fact  of  will.  We  may  not  use  it, 
or  we  may  make  a  bad  use  of  it. 

When  the  imagination  is  under  the  spell  of  evil  the  con- 
sequences in  human  life  become  appalling.  The  condition  is 
here  mentioned  as  a  "reprobate  mind,"  or,  as  Dr.  Moffatt 
translates  it,  "a  reprobate  instinct."  And  that  is  exactly  what 
imagination  is  when  under  the  influence  of  evil.  It  is  a  sub- 
lime instinct  become  reprobate.  It  is  the  highest  tumbling  to 
the  lowest.  It  is  a  fallen  angel.  It  is  the  artist  in  us  turned 
traitor,  glorifying  the  false,  and  falsifying  the  glorious.  It 
reveals  to  the  mind  an  inverted  world.  Everywhere  and  in 
everything  the  emphasis  is  absolutely  wrong.  The  reprobate 
instinct  turns  its  magic  light  on  the  creature  rather  than  upon 
the  creator.  It  paints  in  gold  and  scarlet  what  should  be 
painted  in  dark  colors.  It  paints  in  drab  colors  that  which 
should  be  splashed  with  sunlight.  It  makes  men  see  each 
other  at  their  worst  instead  of  at  their  best.  It  makes  material 
things  appear  as  the  all  important,  and  thereby  distils  covet- 
ousness in  human  hearts.  It  intoxicates  anger  into  the  spirit 
of  murder.  It  creates  false  fears,  and  false  securities.  It 
inspires  envy  rather  than  sacrifice. 

Such  is  the  natural  history  of  the  highest  power  in  us  when 
under  the  spell  of  the  sinister  suggestion,  and  its  goal  is  utter 
darkness. 

In  what  things  is  our  imagination  playing  us  false? 

Eighth  Week,  Third  Day:  The  Relation  o£  the 
Imagination  to  the  Reason  and  the  Will 

For  the  invisible  things  of  him  since  the  creation  of  the 
world  are  clearly  seen,  being  perceived  through  the  things 

77 


IVIII-4]  UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

that  are  made,  even  his  everlasting  power  and  divinity; 
that  they  may  be  without  excuse:  because  that,  knowing 
God,  they  glorified  him  not  as  God,  neither  gave  thanks; 
but  became  vain  in  their  reasonings,  and  their  senseless 
heart  was  darkened.  Professing  themselves  to  be  wise, 
they  became  fools. — I^om.  i :  20-22. 

Recognizing  the  imperfection  of  the  analogy,  but  for  the 
sake  of  clearness,  let  us  think  of  the  human  imagination  as 
the  architect  of  the  house  of  Character,  the  will  as  the 
builder,  and  the  reason  as  the  owner. 

In  an  ill-balanced  and  bad  life,  imagination  as  the  architect 
is  under  an  evil  inspiration  and  makes  a  bad  plan  for  the 
house  of  life.  And  to  add  to  the  mischief,  the  architect  bullies 
both  the  builder  and  the  owner,  so  that  they  are  forced  to 
assist  in  the  base  venture.    Such  is  a  wicked  life. 

In  an  ill-balanced  but  good  life,  the  imagination  as  the 
architect  makes  a  good  enough  plan,  but  does  not  sufficiently 
consult  or  cooperate  with  either  the  builder  or  the  owner  in 
the  making  of  the  plan,  and  succeeds  in  compelling  both  of 
them  to  carry  out  a  scheme  to  which  they  had  given  no 
real  sanction.    Such  may  be  a  fanatical  life. 

In  a  well-balanced  life,  there  is  a  clear  understanding  be- 
tween the  enlightened  imagination  as  architect,  the  reason  as 
owner,  and  the  zvill  as  builder.  Each  recognizes  the  function 
of  the  other.  They  are  allies.  They  are  associates.  They 
fulfil  their  task  in  their  own  sphere.  The  imagination  as 
architect  goes  ahead  and  makes  the  plans  with  the  sanction 
of  the  reason  as  owner.  The  will  as  builder  puts  up  the  build- 
ing according  to  the  plan.     Such  is  a  well-balanced  life. 

In  what  attitude  does  our  imagination  live  in  its  association 
with  our  will  and  reason  ? 

Eighth  Week,  Fourth  Day :  The  Relation  of  Christ 
to  the  Imagination 

And  when  he  was  come  into  the  house,  the  blind  men 
came  to  him:  and  Jesus  saith  unto  them.  Believe  ye  that  I 
am  able  to  do  this?  They  say  unto  him.  Yea,  Lord.  Then 
touched  he  their  eyes,  saying,  According  to  your  faith  be 
it  done  unto  you. — Matt.  9:  28,  29. 

Christ  appeals  to  our  imagination — to  the  architect,  to  the 
pioneer  power  in  us.  '  You  say :   "No ;  Christ  appeals  to  faith." 

78 


THE  IMAGINATION  [VIII-sI 

I  quite  agree.  For,  as  we  have  said,  faith  works  through 
imagination.  Faith  cannot  be  fully  exercised  except  through 
imagination.  You  cannot  exercise  faith  in  anything  except  as 
your  imagination  is  at  work  upon  it.  This  is  true  not  only  in 
our  relation  to  Christ,  but  iti  our  relation  to  everything.  It 
is  not  Christ  alone  who  calls  for  faith.  Everything  to  which 
we  are  related  calls  for  faith,  for  the  exercise  of  imagination. 
For  example,  if  you  make  an  investment  your  power  of  ex- 
plicit reasoning  carries  you  only  up  to  a  certain  point  in  the 
transaction.  You  must  exert  your  faith,  and  imagination  is 
the  means  by  which  you  do  it,  even  in  the  soundest  financial 
transaction.  Every  banking  house  makes  an  appeal  for  faith. 
Every  home  and  every  member  of  it  makes  an  appeal  for 
faith.  That  train  you  are  to  take  today  makes  an  appeal  for 
the  sound  exercise  of  your  imagination. 

If  you  say  that  you  refuse  to  use  your  imagination,  to  exert 
faith,  in  your  relations  with  the  world  in  which  you  live,  then 
you  simply  must  cease  to  have  any  relations  with  the  world. 
You  thereby  cut  yourself  off  from  everything  and  everybody. 

When  Christ  calls  for  faith,  he  calls  for  the  highest  use  of 
your  imagination.  He  challenges  your  imagination  to  trust 
him  in  your  approach  to  the  realities  of  the  eternal  world. 
He  appeals  to  the  same  imagination  that  makes  ventures  in 
finance,  in  love,  in  journeys.  Fie  calls  upon  you  to  go  on  with 
this  process  of  trust,  to  carry  it  forward  from  the  visible  to 
the  invisible  world.  He  is  a  candidate  for  your  faith,  for 
the  leadership  and  direction  of  your  imagination. 

Do  we  give  our  imagination  to  Christ  as  we  give  it  to 
others? 

Eighth  Week,  Fifth  Day:  The  Christian  Use  o£ 
the  Imagination 

Who  through  faith  subdued  kingdoms,  wrought  right- 
eousness, obtained  promises,  stopped  the  mouths  of  lions, 
quenched  the  power  of  fire,  escaped  the  edge  of  the  sword, 
from  weakness  were  made  strong,  waxed  mighty  in  war, 
turned  to  flight  armies  of  aliens. — Heb.  ii:  33,  34. 

When  a  man  has  decided  to  put  up  a  Gothic  structure,  his 
architect  puts  himself  under  the  spell  of  the  best  Gothic  ex- 
amples he  knows.  He  has  for  the  time  being,  as  it  were,  a 
Gothic  imagination. 

79 


[VIII-6]  UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

I 

(  So  when  one  surrenders  his  imagination  to  the  spell  of 
Christ  there  are  certain  definite  influences  exerted  by  Christ 
upon  the  imagination.  It  is  regulated,  it  is  purified,  it  is  re- 
directed, it  is  inspired.  The  change  in  the  imagination  as  a 
result  of  the  domination  of  Christ  is  one  of  the  most  moment- 
ous of  facts.  This  change  carries  at  the  heart  of  it  the'most 
-definitely  practical  results  amongst  the  details  of  living. 

Por  one  thing,  Christ  inspires  the  imagination  with  op- 
timism. He  changes  the  outlook.  When  he  infuses  his  spirit 
into  the  imagination  the  best  is  not  all  in  the  past.  Life  has  a 
fresh  start.  Under  his  purifying  presence  the  imagination  is 
redeemed  from  servitude  to  the  base  and  to  the  baser  self. 
It  rises  from  the  prison  house  of  what  is  gross  into  freedom 
to  pursue  what  is  divine.  It  ascends  from  a  material  world 
to  a  spiritual  universe.  It  is  raised  to  see  more  spacious  plans 
for  life  and  service.  The  ascending  imagination  gets  a  world 
vision  of  the  program  of  Christ  and  becomes  part  of  it.  It 
is  at  home  in  a  universe  of  mystery,  for  it  has  found  a  guide, 

!  it  has  found  a  secret,  a  goal. 

It  is  not  confused  amidst  the  paradoxes  of  life,  for  it  is 
supported  by  a  great  confidence.  This  Christ-inspired  imag- 
ination does  not  escape  from  this  present  world,  leaving  it 
to 'its  fate.  It  faces  the  world's  dire  need.  It  brings  from 
eternity  the  plans  of  a  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth  righteous- 
ness.   And  it  sings  at  its  stupendous  task  of  conquest. 

Is  our  imagination  exercising  the  same  enterprise  in  Christ's 
service  as  it  has  done  in  other  things  ? 

Eighth  Week,  Sixth  Day:  The  Fight  of  the  Chris- 
tian Imagination 

For  our  wrestling  is  not  against  flesh  and  blood,  but 
against  the  principalities,  against  the  powers,  against  the 
world-rulers  of  this  darkness,  against  the  spiritual  hosts 
of  wickedness  in  the  heavenly  places.  Wherefore  take  up 
the  whole  armor  of  God,  that  ye  may  be  able  to  withstand 
in  the  evil  day,  and,  having  done  all,  to  stand. — Eph.  6: 
12,  13. 

The  battlefield  of  life  is  primarily  in  the  imagination.  Do 
you  say  that  such  a  statement  brings  the  fight  into  a  region  of 
foolish  unreality?  /  contend  that  the  imagination  is  in  touch 
with  the  headquarters  of  reality.   It  is  the  invisible  world  that 

80 


THE  IMAGINATION  [VIII-7] 

is  the  real  world,  it  is  the  visible  ivorld  that  is  the  shadozv 
ivorld. 

It  is  the  imagination  which  is  the  immediate  point  of  con- 
tact with  the  unseen  world.  And  in  that  unseen  world  it  is 
the  imagination  which  meets  the  supreme  enemies  of  human 
life  and  destiny. 

Unless  it  has  strong  reenforcements,  imagination  is  likely  to 
go  down  under  the  assault  of  its  foes.  The  sinister  suggestion 
of  discouragement,  or  of  despair,  is  an  intensely  practical  fact 
and  the  conflict  between  the  highest  and  the  lower  than  the 
highest  goes  on  every  day.  The  imagination  is  the  battle- 
ground where  two  forces  contend,  and  we  all  know  it.  This 
invisible  antagonism  is  the  life's  blood  of  history,  it  is  the 
soul  of  human  experience. 

When  zve  are  overpozuered  in  this  inner  struggle  we  are 
beaten  everywhere.  When  we  are  victorious  in  the  realm  of 
imagination  we  conquer  dozvn  among  the  concrete  things  of 
the  daily  round. 

It  is  of  more  primary  importance  that  our  imagination 
should  be  reenforced  by  the  sustaining  power  of  Christ  than 
that  our  circumstances  should  be  changed.  We  do  not  make 
light  of  changed  circumstances,  but  the  fountain-head  of  all 
change  is  within  ourselves.  And  the  supreme  aid  that  can 
come  to  us  is  Christ's  power  sustaining  and  guiding  the  imag- 
ination in  its  daily  struggle. 

Is  the  emphasis  of  our  concern  upon  a  change  in  our  cir- 
cumstances, or  upon  a  Christ-inspired  imagination? 

Eighth  Week,  Seventh  Day:  The  Victory  o£  the 
Christian  Imagination 

For  whatsoever  is  begotten  of  God  overcometh  the 
world:  and  this  is  the  victory  that  hath  overcome  the 
world,  even  our  faith.  And  who  is  he  that  overcometh 
the  world,  but  he  that  believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of 
God?— I  John  5:  4,  5. 

When  the  Christian  imagination  persists  in  the  conquest  of 
sinister  and  gross  and  despairing  suggestions,  what  happens  ? 
This  triumphant  attitude  calls  out  the  reserves  zvithin  us.  It 
multiplies  our  strength.  The  victorious  leader  quadruples  the 
power  of  his  followers.  The  sanguine  expectant  imagination 
not  only  saves  the  other  faculties  from  paralysis,  it  summons 

81 


[VIII-c]  UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

them  to  joyous  achievement.  This  was  the  attitude  of  those 
warriors  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures,  who  under  divine  in- 
spiration commanded  victory.  They  visuahzed  it  through 
their  reenforced  personaHty.  This  was  their  secret.  They 
could  never  have  won  what  they  did  attain  by  any  other 
means.  This  is  what  the  Bible  means  when  it  says  again  and 
again  that  victory  comes  to  those  who  have  faith,  and  this  is 
why  it  puts  the  emphasis  upon  faith — not  because  of  what 
faith  is  in  itself,  but  because  of  the  bond  it  establishes,  be- 
cause of  what  issues  from  the  established  bond.  When  people 
criticise  the  persistent  Christian  emphasis  upon  faith,  they 
f9rget  to  show  us  something  that  can  effectively  take  the  place 
of  an  inspired  imagination.  For  there  is  no  situation  in  life 
in  which  the  Christian  imagination  can  be  beaten,  so  long  as 
it  is  inspired  by  the  conscious  presence  of  the  "Leader  in  the 
campaign  for  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 
I 

Do  you  say  that  all  we  have  been  considering  is  simply 
a  revelation  of  psychological  law  which  is  quite  independent 
of  Christ  and  of  our  personal  relation  to  Christ?  I  at  once 
admit  that  it  is  psychological  law.  But  psychological  descrip- 
tion does  not  cover  the  whole  content  of  Christian  experience. 
I  admit  that  the  electric  light  which  shines  in  my  room  comes 
along  a  wire.  But  that  is  only  a  part  of  the  truth.  It  also 
comes  from  a  power  house  in  the  form  of  a  mysterious  cur- 
rent which  flows  along  the  wire  into  the  room.  If  there  should 
be  a  stoppage  of  the  current  there  would  be  instantaneous 
darkness,  even  although  the  wire  in  my  room  remained  intact. 
The  wire  and  the  electricity  are  counterparts.  So  are  Christ 
and  psychological  law  counterparts.  If  you  doubt  it,  then  try 
the  psychological  law  without  reference  to  him  and  see  if  you 
can  get  the  real  Christian  results. 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  psychological  law  itself  has  been 
revealed  to  us  through  Christ.  Would  we  have  known  apart 
from  Christ  the  extent  to  which  psychological  law  operated 
in  the  direction  of  successful  living?  Is  even  psychology 
not  indebted  to  Christianity  for,  light  upon  the  fact  of  psycho- 
logical laws?  The  great  inventor  does  not  create  mechanical 
laws,  but  he  may  be  the  first  to  reveal  them  and  to  join  them 

B>2 


THE  IMAGINATION  iVIII-c] 

to  practical  problems.  So  while  Christ  has  not  created  psycho- 
logical laws,  has  he  not  revealed  and  applied  them  to  life  in  a 
way  and  to  a  degree  no  other  has  done?  Have  others  not 
learned  from  the  psychological  processes  of  Christian  experi- 
ence facts  concerning  psychological  law  that  might  otherwise 
not  have  been  known?  It  is  easy  to  see  a  psychological  pro- 
cess at  work,  and  then  to  ignore  the  one  who  gave  that 
process  its  significance.  But  again,  would  you  say  that  thr 
results  of  certain  psychological  forces,  used  by  individual: 
apart  from  Christ,  are  the  same  as  the  results  of  those  forces 
operating  in  association  with  Christ? 

The  answer  to  that  question  can  be  made  only  by  an  appeal 
to  actual  experience.  And  for  myself  I  do  not  know  of  any 
human  consciousness  in  the  world  which  is  the  same  as  that 
issuing  from  spiritual  association  with  Jesus  Christ.  I  have 
heard  no  testimony  such  as  issues  from  fellowship  with  him. 
I  have  recognized  no  such  atmosphere  encircling  personalities. 
I  have  witnessed  no  such  group  as  those  who  have  a  death- 
less passion  for  the  universal  coming  of  the  divine  Kingdom. 
I  have  seen  no  such  joy  in  the  thick  of  material  disaster;  no 
such  hope;  no  such  peace;  no  such  profound  moral  recon- 
struction; no  such  symmetrical  proportion  of  various  moral 
elements.  Now  it  is  all  very  well  to  say  that  you  can  produce 
these  results  by  other  means.  The  point  at  present  is  that 
it  is  not  done.  There  are  natural  pearls  and  reconstructed 
pearls  and  they  are  wonderfully  alike,  but  they  are  radically 
different.  There  are  all  kinds  of  natural  precious  stones  and 
all  kinds  of  manufactured  ones.  It  is  not  a  question  as  to 
whether  one  is  as  good  as  the  other,  the  point  is  that  they 
are  structurally  different.  Their  natural  history  is  different. 
And  so  in  regard  to  psychological  phenomena  and  Christian 
experience,  zvhile  they  may  have  many  points  of  resemblance 
they  have  a  fundamentally  different  origin.  Why  do  I  say 
that?  Because  you  cannot  have  the  same  psychological  re- 
sults as  those  flowing  from  association  with  Christ,  until  you 
create  a  source  that  will  have  all  the  powers  and  qualities 
which  we  believe  Christ  to  possess.  You  must  construct  the 
equivalent  of  Christ  before  you  can  have  anything  like  the 
equivalent  in  experience.  Before  you  could  have  the  psycho- 
logical result  of  Christian  experience  you  would  require  to 
have  a  psychological  cause  large  enough  for  the  psychological 
effects. 

8^ 


[VIII-c]  UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 


II 

Besides,  the  problem  is  more  than  a  psychological  one,  it  is 
a  moral  problem.  You  cannot  settle  moral  questions  merely 
by  psychology.  Let  one  try  to  settle  his  bills  by  subjective 
psychology  and  see  what  happens.  Let  him  try  to  settle  an 
injury  he  has  done  to  another  person  by  subjective  psy- 
chology and  he  will  realize  that  he  is  leaving  out  of  the 
problem  the  chief  factor  in  it.  Our  relation  to  God  through 
Christ  rises  far  beyond  psychology.  It  is  a  moral  relation, 
and  moral  issues  which  far  transcend  psychology  are  faced 
and  dealt  with  and  adjusted  in  the  light  of  a  moral  order  in 
the  universe,  and  our  consciences  know  it.  Psychology  does 
not  deal  with  these  issues,  it  cannot  in  the  very  nature  of  the 
case.  Does  the  telegraph  instrument  deal  with  the  inter- 
national problems  it  writes  out  on  the  message  form?  Does 
the  telephone  deal  with  the  problems  it  transmits?  Neither 
can  subjective  psychology  deal  with  problems  which  immeas- 
urably transcend  psychology,  inasmuch  as  we  live  in  a  moral 
and  spiritual  'universe  and  not  merely  in  psychological  states 
of  mind.  We  live  in  a  universe  of  personal  relationships,  and 
not  in  a  mere  condition  of  hypnotic  self-communion. 

//  psychology  were  the  fundamental  explanation  of  Chris- 
tian experience,  zve  could  not  get  away  fro7n  ourselves.  It 
would  be  the  laws  of  our  own  being  with  which  we  would 
enter  into  communion.  There  would  be  no  self  escape.  But 
we  are  conscious  that  the  soul  of  our  victorious  Christian 
experience  consists  in  our  freedom  from  ourselves,  in  the 
objectification  of  our  thoughts  outside  of  and  beyond  our- 
selves. We  are  most  Christian  when  we  are  least  self- 
conscious.  Our  experience  is  most  profoundly  real  when  we 
have  completely  forgotten  ourselves.  The  psychology  of 
Christian  experience  begins  when  we  have  forgotten  all  about 
psychology. 

Ill 

It  is  when  we  respond  to  the  challenge  of  Christ  to  have 
faith  in  him  through  the  exercise  of  our  imagination  that  we 
make  the  highest  use  of  it.  In  this  way  we  are  introduced 
to  him.  Imagination  begins  the  establishment  of  the  relation- 
ship. It  is  so  in  other  relations.  Just  as  we  are  introduced 
to  Christ  through  the  venture  of   faith,  so  we  grow  in  the 

84 


THE  IMAGINATION  [VIII-c] 

knowledge  of  him.  We  realize  in  our  relation  to  him  that  it 
is  better  to  trust  than  to  understand.  In  that  attitude  the 
intimacy  is  deepened.  For  it  is  only  faith  that  can  deepen  a 
relationship,  while  suspicion  suspends  real  intimacy.  Out  of 
that  relationship  there  come  Christian  duties  to  be  performed, 
which  also  require  faith  in  the  doing  of  them.  That  is  to  say, 
our  imagination  is  inspired  both  by  our  relation  to  Christ  and 
by  our  relation  to  the  tasks  he  gives  us  to  do.  We  enter  his 
presence  by  faith  and  we  go  from  his  presence  "to  serve  him 
by  faith. 

It  is  thus  our  imagination  is  educated,  disciplined,  and 
bound  to  Christ,  by  a  double  bond  of  personal  attachment  and 
service.-  This  education  of  our  imagination  is  of  vast  im- 
portance. For  it  is  by  such  education  that  we  are  able  to  grow 
in  affection  toivards  Christ  and  our  felloivs.  Our  imagina- 
tion, resting  upon  the  love  of  our  Lord,  inspires  sympathy 
to  reciprocate  his  love. 

Sympathy  grows  through  the  upward  growth  of  the  imag- 
ination. It  dies  as  imagination  contracts  and  decays.  When 
we  say  that  if  we  could  put  ourselves  in  another's  place  we 
would  be  more  sympathetic,  we  simply  mean  that  the  exercise 
of  imagination  inspires  sympathy.  When  we  come  to  think 
of  it,  a  large  amount  of  hard-heartedness  is  simply  caused 
by  a  lack  of  the  proper  use  of  the  imagination.  Christ  by 
our  association  with  him  and  through  the  tasks  he  is  laying 
upon  us  is  developing  in  us,  without  our  thinking  about  it, 
that  refinement  of  imagination  which  inspires  sympathy.  Our 
sympathy  towards  Christ  reaches  him  through  imagination 
awakening  it.  We  shall  never  recover  that  missing  note  of 
personal  affection  toivards  Christ  until  our  relations  with  him 
have  more  imagination  and  less  cold-blooded  academic  calcu- 
lation. And  zve  shall  not  deepen  our  sympathy  with  our  fel- 
lows unless  ive  let  more  of  our  imagination  out  upon  their 
lot.  It  is  by  living  over  with  our  fellows  their  hardships, 
their  poverty,  their  loneliness,  their  agony,  their  longings,  that 
the  new  day  is  to  come  in  our  world.  A  Christ-educated 
imagination  will  lead  us  beyond  an  academic  discussion  of 
brotherhood  into  an  actual  kinship  of  awakened,  fearless,  and 
self-effacin§  sympathy. 


85 


CHAPTER  IX 

Some  Elements  in  the  Inner 


Ch 


ange 


DAILY  READINGS 

Ninth  Week,  First  Day:  The  Sense  o£  the  Love 
o£  Christ 

That  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  by  faith;  to  the 
end  that  ye,  being  rooted  and  grounded  in  love,  may  be 
strong  to  apprehend  with  all  the  saints  what  is  the  breadth 
and  length  and  height  and  depth,  and  to  know  the  love  of 
Christ  which  passeth  knowledge,  that  ye  may  be  filled  unto 
all  the  fulness  of  God. — Eph.  3:  18,  19. 

Some  people  are  too  much  preoccupied  to  know  that  they 
are  loved.  For  in  order  to  know  it  there  must  be  d  certain 
spirit  of  recollection.  Mental  hurry  blasts  the  knowledge  of 
it.  When  do  we  know  that  we  are  loved?  When  we  make 
room  in  our  thoughts  for  the  acts  of  another  which  reveal  it. 
Sometimes  those  acts  are  as  plain  as  a  pikestaff,  sometimes 
they  are  not  so  obvious.  But  whatever  the  actions  may  be 
which  declare  it,  we  make  the  fact  of  our  being  loved  clear 
to  ourselves  by  some  kind  of  unhurried  reflection. 

One  reason  zvhy  the  love  of  Christ  is  not  real  to  many  is 
simply  that  the  mind  is  in  a  whirl  of  continual  preoccupation. 

But  zvhen  the  thoughts  turn  tozvards  Christ,  zvhen  the  zvill 
and  imagination  respond  to  his  overtures,  there  is  kindled 
within  us  a  sense  of  divine  love. 

It  is  not  merely  a  recognition  that  the  attitude  of  God  in 
Christ  is  loving.  It  is  that  divine  love  is  actually  within  us, 
it  has  become  part  of  our  experience.  It  lays  hold  upon  us. 
Just  as  we  feel  the  actual  warmth  of  the  sun  as  we  keep  our- 

86 


ELEMEXTS  IX   THE  IXXER   CHAXGE    [IX-2] 

selves  in  the  sunshine,  so,  thinking  upon  Christ's  relation  to 
us,  we  are  changed  by  the  actual  contact  of  divine  affection. 
Our  inner  coldness  of  spirit  is  thawed  out.  Our  fear  is  dis- 
pelled.    "Perfect  love  casteth  out  fear." 

Do  we  give  the  divine  love  an  opportunity  to  reach  us? 

Ninth  Week,  Second  Day:  The  Love  of  Christ  as 
a  Supreme  Fact 

Who  shall  separate  us  from  the  love  of  Christ?  shall 
tribulation,  or  anguish,  or  persecution,  or  famine,  or  naked- 
ness, or  peril,  or  sword?  .  .  .  Nay,  in  all  these  things  we 
are  more  than  conquerors  through  him  that  loved  us.  For 
I  am  persuaded,  that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor 
principalities,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor 
powers,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall 
be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord. — Rom.  8:  35,  37-39. 

The  one  supreme  fact  in  the  inner  life  of  a  Christian  is  the 
divine  love.  That  is  the  controlling  reality.  There  are  a  great 
many  other  realities  of  which  a  Christian  is  conscious,  but 
they  are  put  in  their  proper  place,  into  their  right  relation  and 
proportion,  by  the  great  dominating  reality. 

A  Christian  is  quite  aware  that  he  is  not  morally  perfect 
in  himself ;  he  knows  that  he  is  exposed  to  invincible  igno- 
rance in  some  things.  He  realizes  that  all  kinds  of  trouble 
may  await  him.  But  the  inner  change  n'hich  has  taken  place 
in  him  is  that  he  has  put  everything  in  bondage  to  the  master 
thought  of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ.  He  centers  his  life 
around  that  triumphant  conviction. 

He  is  possessed  by  a  love  which  is  a  cleansing,  redeeming 
force,  and  it  is  at  work  bringing  all  else  into  subjection  to  its 
sway.  Things  that  in  themselves  would  strike  terror,  would 
poison  the  whole  outlook  upon  life,  are  turned  into  a  medicine 
because  the  chief  ingredient  is  the  divine  love. 

Is  the  love  of  Christ  or  the  hostility  of  circumstances  the 
more  influential  fact  in  our  experience? 

Ninth   Week,   Tliird  Day:   The   Renewal   of  Our 
Affection 

There  is  no  fear  in  love:  but  perfect  love  casteth  out 
fear,  because  fear  hath  punishment;  and  he  that  feareth  is 

87 


[IX-4]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

not  made  perfect  in  love.    We  love,  because  he  first  loved 
us. — I  John  4:  18,  19. 

It  is  a  matter  of  very  real  concern  in  the  lives  of  many  as 
to  how  to  increase  their  love  towards  Christ,  even  when 
obedient  to  him.  There  is  often  a  keen  sense  of  failure,  after 
trying  hard  to  arouse  affection.  But  is  it  not  love  that  begets 
love?  Is  it  not  the  contemplation  of  the  divine  attitude  which 
renews  our  own? 

All  the  heat  which  we  have  on  this  planet  came  from  the 
sun.  And  all  the  love  which  we  give  back  to  God  came  orig- 
inally from  him. 

Therefore  if  our  exhausted  sympathy  is  to  be  revived  and 
refreshed,  we  must  keep  ourselves  in  the  love  of  God.  We 
must  often  meditate  upon  that  which  most  definitely  and 
vividly  declares  to  us  the  compassion  of  the  divine  heart. 
Dr.  John  Watson  (Ian  Maclaren)  told  me  that  Matthew 
Arnold,  after  attending  a  service  at  Sefton  Park  Church  on 
the  last  day  of  his  life,  came  in  to  luncheon  while  staying  at 
a  friend's  house,  humming  the  hymn  "When  I  Survey  the 
Wondrous  Cross,"  and  said  he  considered  it  the  most  beauti- 
ful hymn  in  the  language.  That  hymn  leads  the  mind  to  the 
contemplation  of  divine  love  as  the  inspiration  of  our  own. 

Do  we  let  the  thought  of  the  love  of  Christ  have  a  place  in 
the  renewal  of  our  love? 

Ninth  Week,  Fourth  Day :  Christ  at  Work 

For  it  is  God  who  worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to 
work,  for  his  good  pleasure. — Phil.  2 :  13. 

In  our  physical  life  we  are  not  conscious  of  the  transforma- 
tion of  food  into  blood  and  bone  and  brain.  Nor  are  we  con- 
scious of  the  law  of  healing  as  nature  repairs  a  wound.  A 
great  deal  happens  within  us,  in  the  whole  range  of  our  com- 
plex being,  beneath  our  consciousness  of  it.  We  have  certain 
conditions  to  fulfil,  of  course,  but  that  is  not  the  point  at  the 
moment. 

If  Christ  takes  the  initiative  in  the  im^r  spiritual  life,  then 
his  work  begins  beneath  our  consciousness  of  it.  For  while 
he  reaches  us  in  part  through  our  consciousness,  and  while 
it  is  obvious  we  cooperate  with  him  through  our  conscious- 
ness, there  is  a  work  to  be  done  in  us  which  is  deeper  than 

88 


ELEMENTS  IN   THE  INNER   CHANGE    [IX-5] 

that  restricted  area.  There  is  a  work  of  purification  and 
repair  and  -redirection  of  which  our  consciousness  is  not 
aware.  If  our  spiritual  regeneration  were  to  be  only  within 
the  scope  of  that  limited  section  of  us  of  which  we  are  con- 
scious, the  outlook  would  be  discouraging. 

The  physician  does  not  deal  merely  with  the  red  rash  of 
which  the  child  has  told  him.  And  the  comfort  of  it  is,  that 
the  Physician  of  our  souls  is  at  work  upon  us  deeper  than 
we  know,  when  we  trust  him,  and  contemplate  him  as  at  work, 
and  give  him  a  free  hand. 

Ninth  Week,  Fifth  Day:  Christ  Relating  the  Life 
to  Its  True  Environment 

So  then,  my  beloved,  even  as  ye  have  always  obeyed,  not 
as  in  my  presence  only,  but  now  much  more  in  my  absence, 
work  out  your  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling. — 
Phil.  2;  12. 

Think  of  life  in  any  of  the  kingdoms  of  nature  without 
relationships,  seeds  without  earth,  fishes  without  water,  man 
without  society,  a  mind  without  a  reasonable  universe.  It 
would  all  be  meaningless  and  impossible.  The  very  statement 
of  it  is  a  contradiction.  Relationship  is  the  destiny  of  every- 
thing, and  most  of  all  is  this  true  of  man.  Death  means  the 
cessation  of  relationship,  life  is  the  expansion  of  it.  And 
when  Christ  has  the  right  of  way  in  a  life,  he  begins  to 
rescue  it  from  partial  existence,  and  to  liberate  it  to  find  cor- 
respondence with  its  normal  human  environment.  For  most 
people  have  not  established  connections  with  the  full  scope  of 
their  environment,  and  consequently  are  only  partially  alive. 
Our  full  environment  may  be  said  to  be  fourfold — a  relation 
to  God,  to  the  facts  of  providence,  to  self,  and  to  humanity. 

Christ  working  in  us  binds  us  to  God.  He  reconciles  us 
to  the  realities  of  life  through  faith  in  the  fact  that  no  hos- 
tility of  circumstances  can  destroy  our  essential  life.  He 
relates  us  to  ourselves  by  giving  us  a  motive  in  living,  great 
enough  to  unify  the  scattered  elements  of  our  inner  being. 
He  brings  us  into  normal  relation  to  our  fellows  by  creating 
a  love  sufficient  to  maintain  the  contact.  Christ's  opportunity 
in  us,  while  on  the  one  hand  it  may  start  beneath  conscious- 
ness, on  the  other  hand  urges  us  to  make  full  connections 
with  the  universe  outside  of  ourselves. 

89 


[IX-6]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

Ninth  Week,  Sixth  Day:  Christ  Releasing  from 
Slavery  to  the  World 

And  be  not  fashioned  according  to  this  world:  but  be  ye 
transformed  by  the  renewing  of  your  mind,  that  ye  may 
prove  what  is  the  good  and  acceptable  and  perfect  will  of 
God. — Rom.  12:  2. 

People  live  in  a  variety  of  mental  attitudes  towards  the 
spirit  of  the  world,  towards  its  pride,  its  ambitions,  its  pleas- 
ures, and  its  prizes.  Some  have  surrendered  to  the  temper  of 
the  world,  they  have  becomp  part  of  it.  Others  have  Hed  from 
it  by  mental  or  social  isolation,  or  both.  They  are  neither 
of  the  world  nor  in  the  world.  Many  others  have  made  a 
compromise  between  these  two  extremes.  They  are  half  in 
and  half  out  of  the  world.  But  the  Christian  way  is  neither 
surrender,  nor  retreat,  nor  compromise.  It  is  to  stay  right  in 
the  thick  of  human  affairs,  but  without  conforming  to  the 
spirit  of  the  world — to  be  in  it,  and  very  much  in  it,  and  yet 
not  of  it ;  to  live  in  genial  human  contacts ;  to  retain  a  zest 
for  life;  and  yet  to  live  beyond  the  petty,  self-centered  aims 
of  a  passing  show.    How  is  it  to  be  done? 

By  Christ  renewing  the  mind,  by  the  continual  bathing  of 
the  thoughts  in  his  presence.  As  the  body  is  renewed  by  food 
and  sleep,  so  we  may  come  back  to  the  world  with  renewed 
enthusiasms  and  purified  ambitions  in  the  presence  of  our 
Lord.  For  the  spirit  of '  worldliness  or  unworldliness  is  an 
attitude  of  mind.  And  it  is  only  in  the  Changeless  Presence 
that  the  mind  can  be  raised  above  a  changing  world. 

Ninth  Week,  Seventh  Day:  The  New  Patience 

Knowing  that  the  proving  of  your  faith  worketh 
patience.  And  let  patience  have  its  perfect  work,  that  ye 
may  be  perfect  and  entire,  lacking  in  nothing. — James  i: 
3,  4. 

It  is  when  men  lose  confidence  in  leadership  that  they  grow 
impatient.  But  a  great  trust  in  a  leader  means  great  patience 
in  tribulation.  So  the  intimate,  personal  leadership  of  Christ, 
when  it  is  real  to  us,  gives  the  secret  of  patient  endurance. 
For  he  gives  the  light  necessary  to  make  patience  intelligible. 
We  can  endure  zvhen  we  are  able  to  trust  the  motive  of  our 
leader,  when  we  can  rely  upon  his  judgment,  when  we  are 

90 


ELEMENTS  IN   THE  INNER   CHANGE    [IX-c] 

sure  of  his  comradeship,  and  when  we  beHeve  in  the  worth 
of  his  final  aims.  This  is  really  the  heart  of  patience,  to  live 
in  the  spirit  of  the  broad  view,  to  look  at  single  events  as  parts 
of  a  whole.  In  that  attitude  it  is  perfectly  natural  to  hear  a 
man  say :  "Ail  things  work  together  for  good."  Without  that 
attitude  it  is  not  astonishing  to  hear  a  man  say  like  Jacob : 
"All  these  things  are  against  me."  Faith  in  Christ  then  means 
patience,  and  patience  is  the  guarantee  of  much  more  that 
grows  out  of  it.  It  becomes  the  creator  of  most  valuable  by- 
products in  the  realm  of  character.  "In  your  patience  ye  shall 
win  your  souls." 

Let  us  not  forget  that  Christian  patience  is  an  active  as 
well  as  a  passive  virtue.  It  covers  the  work  of  an  athlete  on 
the  field  as  well  as  the  endurance  of  an  invalid  in  the  sick 
room.  And  heroism  may  be  a  finer  thing  when  it  endures 
without  the  inspiration  of  an  audience. 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 

I 

There  must  inevitably  he  a  great  inner  change  in  the  life  of 
a  Christian  under  the  leadership  of  Christ  because  there  is  no 
other  such  leader.  There  is  nowhere  such  an  embodiment  as  is 
found  in  Christ  of  what  human  life  requires  in  order  to  realize 
its  true  destiny.  It  is  not  enough  according  to  historical 
Christianity  to  say  we  may  have  the  leadership  of  God  apart 
from  Christ.  For  Christ  answers  the  human  need  for  a  lead- 
ership which  mediates  God  to  the  soul.  Men  demand  a  leader- 
ship which  meets  them  on  the  human  level.  And  of  all  such 
leaders  Christ  is  supreme  not  only  because  of  the  coi1\ent  of 
his  message,  but  because  of  his  abiding  presence  to  lead  the 
world. 

History  has  shown  how  inadequate  the  highest  human  lead- 
ership has  been  for  long  stretches  of  time,  when  men  cried  out 
for  satisfaction  in  the  deepest  things  of  life.  Even  in  your  own 
experience  your  memory  may  be  the  grave  of  a  dozen  dead 
leaders,  whom  you  have  outgrown.  Each  has  guided  you 
through  a  phase,  a  period,  but  you  outlived  him,  for  he  led 
you  only  in  one  aspect  of  life.  We  all  have  seen  how  the 
masterful  spirit  who  has  swept  his  followers  off  their  feet 
for  a  time  was  in  jeopardy  every  hour — a  false  step,  and  his 
power  has  died  in  a  day.    But  even  when  the  leader  of  yes- 

91 


IIX-c]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

terday  fails  to  meet  the  present  situation  the  human  instinct 
for  leadership  remains.  Was  this  ever  more  evident  than  in 
the  life  of  today?  Do  you  realize  how  many  confident  voices 
have  been  silenced  by  the  terrible  irony  of  events?  We  are 
not  so  sure  now  that  this  or  that  theorist  has  ftie  vision  for 
the  world's  needs.  The  fact  is,  ours  is  a  disillusioned  world, 
we  live  in  a  period  when  leader  after  leader  has  fallen  under 
suspicion  and  into  ominous  silence.  New  knowledge  which 
men  hoped  would  lead  them  has  deepened  their  perplexity. 
Social  unrest  has  awakened  a  deeper  craving  for  inner  tran- 
quillity. The  problems  of  the  future  bewilder  the  most  in- 
trepid intellect.  The  most  astute  mind  can  only  feel  his  way 
along  a  path  the  world's  life  has  never  before  trodden.  The 
problems  of  tomorrow  are  too  vast,  and  complicated,  and  be- 
yond historical  precedent  for  the  highest  groups  of  specialized 
human  intelligence.  At  their  best  and  bravest  and  wisest, 
they  can  only  guess  and  hope  and  wait.  Therefore  if  Christ 
is  what  Christians  believe  him  to  be,  if  he  is  what  he  has 
professed  to  be,  if  he  is  what  questioning,  groping  men 
faintly  hope  he  may  turn  out  to  be  to  this  modern  world, 
when  he  gets  a  square  chance  such  as  he  has  not  yet  had — 
then  those  who  believe  they  have  received  him  must  have  a 
definite  advantage  over  others  who  do  not  so  believe.  They 
must  have  a  conviction  others  have  not,  a  confidence,  a  power, 
a  message,  others  have  not. 

II 

The  inner  change  wrought  by  Christ  is  distinctly  a  funda- 
mental change.  It  strikes  at  the  roots  of  life.  It  awakens, 
and  disturbs,,  and  challenges  what  is  disturbed  by  no  other 
influence.  So  much  in  a  life  can  remain  asleep  until  Christ 
■enters.  So  much  in  us  can  talk  back  till  Christ  comes.  But 
when  the  Master  gets  possession,  there  is  a  solemn  arraign- 
ment of  formerly  undisturbed  inner  conditions.  There  is  a 
fundamental  thoroughness  about  Christ's  relation  to  our  lives 
which  is  startlingly  practical.  It  goes  to  the  very  heart  of 
human  weakness  and  failure;  it  is  inconceivable  that  any 
probe  could  reach  deeper.  No  other  contact  with  human  con- 
dition approaches  the  searching  reality  of  the  touch  of  Christ. 
He  deals  with  the  very  next  thought  of  the  mind,  giving  it 
steadiness  and  a  new  purpose.  He  deals  with  the  task  we 
have  in  hand  at  the  moment  and  gives  a  higher  motive  for  its 

Q2 


ELEMENTS  IN   THE  INNER   CHANGE    [IX-cl 

accomplishment.  He  seeks  out  the  unconfessed  wrong,  the 
unsubdued  mental  vagrancy.  The  neglected  dust-covered  cor- 
ners of  life  are  swept  by  light  from  his  presence.  Not  in 
anger,  but  with  the  supremely  compassionate  purpose  of  inner 
renewal,  he  reaches  the  inmost  recesses  of  human  life.  Is 
there  any  other  such  moral  overture  made  to  mankind  which 
so  penetrates  to  the  innermost  zone  of  moral  consciousness? 
If  not,  can  there  be  any  change  so  radical  as  that  which  is 
effected  by  Christ?  Do  not  say  it  is  not  often  done.  That  is 
not  Christ's  fault.  It  is  done  when  Christ  gets  a  free  hand, 
and  we  know  it.  The  point  here  is  that  real  Christianity 
meets  the  fundamental  moral  situation.  Christ  reaches  down 
to  the  lowest  depths  of  the  human  state  and  begins  the  work 
of  recovery,  so  that  the  worst  man  who  ever  lived  may  find 
himself  through  the  healing  ministry  back  in  conscious  union 
with  God.  If  there  is  no  other  contact  which  reaches  the 
moral  quick  as  Christ  reaches  it,  then  there  can  be  no  such 
upward  change  in  men  as  he  achieves.  Think  of  the  variety 
of  all  the  other  influences  which  appeal  to  us  for  consideration 
— how  superficial  is  their  healing  touch.  Think  of  all  the 
other  messages — how  shallow  is  their  moral  diagnosis.  But 
Christ  plumbs  the  depths,  not  to  condemn  but  to  rescue  and 
restore. 

Ill 

The  inner  change  means  that  everything  touching  th.e  life' 
may  be  assimilated  into  spiritual  power.  As  abounding  physi- 
cal health  conquers  the  seeds  of  disease  which  might  other- 
wise prove  fatal,  so  Christ's  abundant  hfe  enables  the  Chris- 
tian soul  to  become  more  than  a?  conqueror  in  relation  to  the 
antagonisms  of  the  world.  As  the  tree  with  its  roots  struck 
deep  into  the  earth  is  able  to  draw  from  it  such  nourishment 
as  to  thrive  upon  the  elemental  storms,  so  the  life  of  Christ 
in  men  is  the  guarantee  of  survival  and  growth  amidst  the 
storms  of  life.  It  is  not  only  that  no  harm  can  come  when 
he  nourishes  the  human  spirit;  it  is  also  that  everything  con- 
spires to  make  it  more  Christlike.  It  is  not  conquest  merely,  it 
is  more  than  conquest.  Many  things  cannot  be  conquered. 
What  men  call  tragedies  and  trifles  cannot  be  conquered.  That 
is  to  say,  we  cannot  escape  them.  We  cannot  escape  the  pin 
pricks  of  a  petty  soul  any  more  than  we  can  escape  the 
shadows  of  death.    But  we  can  more  than  conquer  them.   The 

93 


[IX-c]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

antagonisms  which  pursue  us  may  be  tamed  into  elements  of 
personal  growth.  Through  Christ  everything  in  the  universe 
may  become  sacramental  to  the  soul  in  -unison  with  him. 
Nothing  can  separate,  nothing  can  destroy,  nothing  can  really 
injure — nothing  but  our  own  wayward  will. 

IV 

The  inner  change  through  the  reign  of  Christ  in  the  human 
spirit  is  fundamentally  a  change  in  moral  tendency — a  new 
tendency  in  the  direction  of  being  and  not  merely  in  appear- 
ing to  be ;  of  purifying  motive  as  well  as  action ;  revaluating 
success  as  giving  and  not  as  getting ;  emphasizing  quality  in 
actions  rather  than  bulk  or  quantity ;  communicating  spiritual 
reality  as  fundamentally  important.  This  change  in  inner 
tendency  is  at  first  an  invisible  thing,  and  even  when  visible 
it  is  still  in  the  disguise  of  being  an  uninfluential  thing.  This 
new  Christian  tendency  in  life  can  never  be  estimated  at  its 
real  worth,  for  men  are  looking  for  the  materially  impressive, 
for  certain  preconceived  marks  of  greatness  and  importance. 
They  are  looking  for  bigness,  gilt  and  glitter,  impressive 
names,  and  the  outward  show  which  they  think  must  always 
accompany  power.  For  we  are  still  in  the  kindergarten  as  to 
the  recognition  of  spiritual  reality.  And  because  of  this, 
Christian  people  are  supremely  tempted  to  answer  men's  ex- 
pectations by  substituting  the  show  of  things  for  the  realities. 
Is  not  this  just  the  point  at  which  Christianity  has  again  and 
again  surrendered  to  the  expectations  of  the  carnal  mind  and 
has  in  consequence  been  shorn  of  its  power? 

If  Christians  are  to  give  Christ  his  chance  in  our  day  for 
the  remaking  of  society,  mus't  it  not  be  through  a  return  to  a 
reemphasis  of  what  is  really  spiritual  progress?  Why  should 
we  shape  our  lives  according  to  the  roar  in  the  street 
instead  of  daring  to  live  according  to  the  mind  of  Christ? 
Does  it  not  seem  that  the  supreme  need  for  the  new  day 
which  is  at  hand  is  for  us  as  Christian  people  really  to  risk 
the  mind  of  Christ  amid  the  facts  of  life;  to  cease  to  follow 
and  to  begin  to  lead,  not  in  the  spirit  of  self-aggression,  but 
in  obedience  to  the  tendencies  of  the  indwelling  life  of  Christ? 
Who  will  say  the  Church  has  been  leading?  She  may  have 
been  politic,  but  has  she  been  powerful? 


94 


CHAPTER  X 

The  Release  from  Anxiety 

DAILY  READINGS 
Tenth  Week,  First  Day :  The  Fact  of  Anxiety 

No  man  can  serve  two  masters:  for  either  he  will  hate 
the  one,  and  love  the  other;  or  else  he  will  hold  to  one, 
and  despise  the  other.  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and  mammoii. 
— Matt.  6:  24. 

When  two  forces  cancel  each  other,  whether  it  be  in  a  boat 
where  two  men  row  in  opposite  directions,  or  in  a  life  in 
which  two  opposite  ambitions  tend  to  paralyze  each  other, 
there  is  a  condition  which  may  be  called  anxious.  For  there 
can  be  no  real  progress,  while  there  may  be  a  great  deal  of 
effort.  There  can  be  no  real  satisfaction,  although  there  may 
be  a  vast  longing  to  secure  it.  There  can  be  no  joy,  although 
this  double  position  may  be  the  blind  way  of  trying  to  at- 
tain it. 

The  secret  of  the  unrest  and  unhappiness  in  many  a  life  is 
this  attempt  to  have  two  dominating  purposes,  two  conflicting 
ideals,  reigning  in  the  mind  at  the  same  time.  There  is  a 
continual,  or  periodic,  shifting  from  one  aim  to  the  other.  It 
is  a  condition  of  being  neither  cold  nor  hot,  the  condition  of 
the  Laodiceans.  "T  know  thy  works,  that  thou  art  neither 
cold  nor  hot:  I  would  thou  wert  cold  or  hot."  If  one  or  other 
of  the  aims  were  to  surrender,  then  there  would  be  compara- 
tive rest.  The  fact  is,  a  purely  worldly  person  may  have 
more  real  satisfaction  of  a  kind  than  one  who  is  in  a  con- 
tinual attitude  of  compromise.  We  are  so  constituted  that 
our  life  must  he  dominated  by  one  ruling  passion.  It  may 
have  very  many  interests,  but  not  two  contending  motives. 

How  may  we  begin  now  to  have  one  dominating  motive? 

95 


[X-2]       UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

Tenth  Week,  Second  Day :  Causes  of  the  Anxious 
Attitude 

And  there  ariseth  a  great  storm  of  wind,  and  the  waves 
beat  into  the  boat,  insomuch  that  the  boat  was  now  filling. 
And  he  himself  was  in  the  stern,  asleep  on  the  cushion: 
and  they  awake  him,  and  say  unto  him,  Teacher,  carest 
thou  not  that  we  perish?  And  he  awoke  and  rebuked  the 
wind,  and  said  unto  the  sea,  Peace,  be  still.  And  the  wind 
ceased,  and  there  was  a  great  calm.  And  he  said  unto 
them.  Why  are  ye  fearful?  have  ye  n9t  yet  faith?  And 
they  feared  exceedingly,  and  said  one  to  another,  Who 
then  is  this,  that  even  the  wind  and  the  sea  obey  him? — 
Mark  4:  37-41. 

One  cause  of  having  two  convicting  ideals,  or  aims,  is  a 
false  idea  of  our  responsibility.  A  great  many  people  think 
that  certain  very  important  things  in  life  are  in  their  own 
hands,  and  that  they  must  look  after  them.  They  carry  a 
burden  which  God  never  intended  they  should  carry.  Con- 
sequently they  became  anxious ;  they  are  not  merely  concerned 
with  doing  what  they  have  in  hand  with  all  their  might,  but 
they  worry  about  the  consequences  of  it.  For  example,  a 
politician  may  know  what  he  ought  to  do,  but  he  worries  how 
it  will  affect  votes.  A  preacher  may  know  what  he  ought  to 
say,  but  he  also  becomes  greatly  concerned  as  to  how  people 
will  take  it.  One  has  a  certain  duty,  but  he  keeps  wondering 
as  to  how  much  happiness  is  coming  out  of  the  doing  of  it. 
Living  partly  in  the  thing  now  to  be  done,  and  partly  in  the 
consequences  of  doing  it,  is  a  frequent  cause  of  being  harried 
by  two  dominating  motives.  And  the  cause  of  this  condition 
may  be  fear,  a  fear  of  individuals,  or  of  the  world,  or  of  the 
forces  of  nature.  Fear  arises  from  the  picturing  of  a  dis- 
astrous result.  One  who  fears  is  trying  to  do  his  work,  but 
he  is  also  under  the  cruel  lash  of  what  is  going  to  happen. 
He  is  permitting  his  imagination  to  visualize  discouraging  and 
paralyzing  consequences,  while  the  rest  of  him  is  trying  to 
push  on  with  the  task.  In  this  way  one's  greatest  enemy  is 
within  the  household  of  his  own  bisected  personality. 

What  most  frequently  causes  us  anxiety  ? 

Tenth  Week,  Third  Day:  The  Unanxious  Attitude 

And  now,  behold,  I  go  bound  in  the  spirit  unto  Jerusa- 
lem, not  knowing  the  things  that  shall  befall  me  there: 

96 


THE  RELEASE  FROM  ANXIETY  [X-4] 

save  that  the  Holy  Spirit  testifieth  unto  me  in  every  city, 
saying  that  bonds  and  afflictions  abide  me.  But  I  hold 
not  my  life  of  any  account  as  dear  unto  myself,  so  that  I 
may  accomplish  my  course,  and  the  ministry  which  I  re- 
ceived from  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  gospel  of  the 
grace  of  God. — Acts  20:  22-24. 

A  Christian  is  in  an  unanxious  attitude,  when  his  whole  per- 
sonality is  focused  upon  doing  the  will  of  Christ.  The  mind, 
resolutely  refusing  to  be  taken  up  with  irrelevant  suggestions 
or  secondary  considerations,  steadily  moves  forward  to 
achieve  its  task,  with  oneness  of  aim,  concentration  of  pur- 
pose, passionate  absorption  in  the  mind  of  Christ.  "This  one 
thing  I  do."  Things  right  enough  in  themselves  have  been 
pushed  to  one  side  in  the  meantime.  They  do  not  count  for 
the  moment.  They  are  not  in  the  immediate  calculation. 
They  must  take  their  chances  later  on  for  weal  or  woe. 
Meanwhile,  it  is  one  thing  at  a  time.  "I  can  do  no  other,  so 
help  me  God."  ^ 

In  this  attitude  there  is  the  courageous  running  of  risks 
concerning  everything  except  the  will  of  Christ.  Just  as 
freight  trains  must  wait  at  sidings,  and  automobiles  at  cross- 
ings, and  linemen  must  stand  by  the  side  of  the  railway,  till 
the  express  sweeps  past,  so  in  the  Christian  unanxious  atti- 
tude there  is  one  supreme  purpose  which  has  the  right  of  way. 

This  bearing  carries  at  the  heart  of  it  a  great  joy  and  peace 
and  power.  The  whole  of  life  is  thereby  automatically  sim- 
plified. That  does  not  mean  fezuness  of  interests — there  may 
be  an  increasing  number,  one  may  be  making  the  most  com- 
plex connections  with  the  needs  of  the  world — but  there  is 
only  one  fundamental  concern. 

What  is  one  of  the  immediate  results  of  this  attitude? 

Tenth  Week,  Fourth  Day:  What  the  Unanxious 
Attitude  Does  Not  Mean 

To  reveal  his  Son  in  me,  that  I  might  preach  him  among 
the  Gentiles;  straightway  I  conferred  not  with  flesh  and 
blood:  neither  went  I  up  to  Jerusalem  to  them  that  were 
apostles  before  me:  but  I  went  away  into  Arabia;  and 
again  I  returned  unto  Damascus. 

Then  after  three  years  I  went  up  to  Jerusalem  to  visit 
Cephas,  and  tarried  with  him  fifteen  days. — Gai.  i:  16-18. 

97 


[X-5]       UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

The  only  point  I  wish  to  emphasize  here  is  that  the  Chris- 
tian unanxious  attitude  does  not  imply  the  absence  of  plans 
for  the  future.  There  are  some  who  vindicate  themselves  in 
a  policy  of  happy-go-lucky  carelessness.  The  result  is  that 
other  people  besides  themselves  have  to  suffer  for  their  false 
interpretations  of  Christ.  They  are  slipshod,  unpunctual,  or 
it  may  be  they  do  not  believe  in  such  a  thing  as  insurance, 
or  in  any  settled  plans  whatsoever.  That  is  not  the  fulfilment 
of  the  mind  of  Christ — it  is  the  delusion  of  a  mood.  Christ's 
whole  relation  to  the  world  has  a  definite  comprehensive  plan 
at  the  heart  of  it.  And  he  has  had  a  cosmic  plan  in  the 
process  of  being  fulfilled  by  his  disciples,  stretching  from  age 
to  age.  Besides,  the  very  relation  of  Christ  to  the  human 
mind  implies  the  making  of  clear,  wise  plans,  because  he  is 
always  insisting  upon  concentration  of  mind,  and  that  upon 
which  he  challenges  our  concentration  is  part  of  a  plan.  His 
is  not  a  disconnected,  unrelated  suggestion.  The  enemy  of  a 
plan  is  not  a  concentrated  mind,  but  a  muddled  mind,  a  mind 
becoming  the  victim  of  stray  impressions.  The  mind  which 
refuses  to  be  amenable  to  a  plan  is  likely  to  be  one  which 
has  thrown  over  the  rigors  of  discipline. 

On  the  other  hand,  let  us  bear  in  mind  at  the  same  time 
while  the  healthy  Christian  mind  may  recognize  the  place  of 
plans  in  life  he  may  not  submit  to  your  plan,  or  mine.  We 
may  not  coerce  our  fellows  into  subjection  to  our  scheme. 
One  is  Master,  even  Christ. 

Are  plans  or  the  mind  of  Christ  primary? 

Tenth   Week,   Fifth   Day:   Unanxious   Regarding 
Spiritual  Growth 

For  which  cause  I  suffer  also  these  things :  yet  I  am  not 
ashamed;  for  I  know  him  whom  I  have  believed,  and  I 
am  persuaded  that  he  is  able  to  guard  that  which  I  have 
committed  unto  him  against  that  day. — II  Tim.  i:  12. 

When  a  farmer  fulfils  the  conditions,  it  is  the  business  of 
nature  to  produce  the  harvest.  He  clearly  recognizes  the  limits 
of  his  responsibility.  A  child  who  plants  a  seed  in  a  flower  pot, 
on  the  other  hand,  interferes  with  nature  by  digging  up  the 
seed  an  hour  or  two  afterwards  to  see  if  it  is  growing.  Paul 
was  like  the  farmer,  he  left  the  problem  of  the  growth  of 
his  spiritual  life  in  the  hands  of  his  Lord,  while  he  in  perfect 

98 


THE  RELEASE  FROM  ANXIETY  [X-6] 

confidence  went  about  his  particular  business  of  fulfilling  the 
conditions.  He  carried  the  burden  Christ  gave  him,  and  he 
left  the  burden  that  was  not  his  to  Him  who  had  pledged 
himself  to  carry  it.  When  one  lives  in  this  relation  to  Christ, 
he  is  thereby  free  from  worrying  about  his  soul  and  its 
growth.  He  does  not  think  his  spiritual  development  is  a 
small  matter,  it  is  because  it  is  so  vastly  important  that  he 
puts  the  problem  in  other  hands  than  his  own — just  as  you 
transfer  the  keeping  of  valuables  from  your  own  care  to  the 
custody  of  another. 

But  there  are  some  who  are  like  the  child,  they  still  carry 
the  burden  for  their  spiritual  growth  even  after  they  have 
fulfilled  the  conditions  of  worship  and  obedience.  The  con- 
sequence is  they  are  never  particularly  joyous  people,  for  they 
are  constantly  worried  as  to  how  their  souls  are  getting  along. 
They  are  all  the  time  searching  for  symptoms  as  to  how  they 
are  progressing  spiritually.  They  take  their  spiritual  tem- 
perature, then  feel  their  spiritual  pulse,  and  when  that  sort 
of  thing  goes  on  for  a  while  they  lose  heart.  For  this  hectic 
condition  stops  the  growth  of  their  souls. 

H  many  earnest  people  would  leave  the  growth  of  their 
souls  in  the  keeping  of  the  Lord  of  life,  they  would  have  more 
freedom  to  serve  with  gladness  of  heart. 

When  may  the  unanxious  attitude  regarding  spiritual 
growth  be  practiced? 

Tenth   Week,   Sixth  Day:  Unanxious   Regarding 
Influence 

Here,  moreover,  it  is  required  in  stev/ards,  that  a  man 
be  found  faithful.  But  with  me  it  is  a  very  small  thing 
that  I  should  be  judged  of  you,  or  of  man's  judgment:  yea, 
I  judge  not  mine  own  self.  For  I  know  nothing  against 
myself;  yet  am  I  not  hereby  justified:  but  he  that  judgeth 
me  is  the  Lord.  Wherefore  judge  nothing  before  the  time, 
until  the  Lord  come,  who  will  both  bring  to  light  the 
hidden  things  of  darkness,  and  make  manifest  the  counsels 
of  the  hearts;  and  then  shall  each  man  have  his  praise 
from  God. — I  Cor.  4:  2-5. 

To  be  concerned  about  fidelity  is  one  thing,  to  be  anxious 
about  influence  is  another  thing.  Influence  of  the  right  sort 
is  always  a  by-product  of  fidelity.    Of  course,  we  are  not  here 

99 


[X-7]       UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

discussing  that  type  of  so-called  influence  which  issues  from 
pulling  all  kinds  of  strings.  The  influence  of  which  we  are 
thinking  is  that  glorious  product  which  haunts  a  life  uncon- 
scious of  itself  in  the  service  of  the  Master. 

It  is  a  precious,  beautiful,  powerful  thing.  But  Christ  takes 
charge  of  it,  he  fosters  it,  he  protects  it.  The  Christian  dis- 
ciple dare  not  try  to  meddle  with  it.  It  is  not  his  affair. 
Whenever  he  touches  it  he  soils  it.  There  are  some  good 
people  who  do  not  realize  that  influence  is  something  which 
is  not  in  their  keeping.  Consequently  they  are  burdened  by 
the  appalling  anxiety  to  make  an  impression — not  necessarily 
in  a  conceited  way,  but  it  may  be  simply  in  an  over-zealous 
attempt  to  reach  others  for  good.  They  try  too  hard.  They 
may  become  artificially  unctuous.  They  may  be  extravagantly 
and  oppressively  sympathetic.  They  exhaust  people.  What 
is  the  matter?  They  are  not  leaving  anything  for  Christ  to 
do.  They  think  the  whole  burden  of  fidelity  and  the  creation 
of  influence  rests  upon  them.  It  is  a  frightful  strain.  The 
strain  of  anxiety  for  influence  is  self-imposed.  It  is  not  the 
result  of  faith,  but  of  unbelief  in  the  vigilant  activity  of 
Christ.  Christ  never  imposed  so  galling  a  burden.  His  yoke 
is  easy.     His  burden  is  light. 

Have  we  been  more  concerned  for  influence  or  for  fidelity? 

Tenth  Week,  Seventh  Day:  Unanxious  Regarding 
Happiness 

Howbeit  what  things  were  gain  to  me,  these  have  I 
counted  loss  for  Christ.  Yea  verily,  and  I  count  all  things 
to  be  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ 
Jesus  my  Lord:  for  whom  I  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things, 
and  do  count  them  but  refuse,  that  I  may  gain  Christ. — 
Phil.  3:  7,  8. 

The  highest  type  of  Christians  have  been  the  most  joyous 
people  in  the  world ;  nothing  in  all  literature  compares  with 
the  story  of  their  triumphant  gladness  of  heart  in  the  midst 
of  the  most  hostile  circumstances.  The  secret  of  it  is  that 
they  lost  sight  of  the  thought  of  happiness,  their  thoughts  lay 
in  an  entirely  different  direction.  They  sought  Christ  and  his 
will,  encountering  in  that  quest  the  appearance  of  all  kinds 
of  unhappiness.  If  they  had  trusted  appearances  they  would 
have  said  "good-by"  to  happiness  for  ever.    But  none  of  those 

100 


THE  RELEASE  FROM  ANXIETY  [X-c] 

things  moved  them.  By  losing  their  lives  they  found  them, 
by  scorning  the  pursuit  of  happiness  they  discovered  the 
fountain-head  of  it. 

The  vast  majority  have  not  yet  learned  the  great  secret  that 
happiness,  like  influence,  is  a  by-product.  Consequently  they 
are  still  pursuing  it  along  the  highway  of  appearances,  and 
none  are  more  disillusioned  than  those  who  have  made  it  their 
supreme  business  to  hunt  for  happiness.  For  it  can  never  be 
caught.  Besides,  it  wears  a  disguise.  Men  shrink  from  that 
disguise.  It  looks  forbidding.  Even  a  philosopher  like  Plato 
could  not  see  that  life's  highest  joys  came  through  self- 
sacrifice. 

The  Christian  testimony  is,  that  in  self-effacing  attachment 
to  the  mind  of  Christ  the  purest  kind  of  satisfaction  flings 
itself  upon  those  who  have  ignored  and  forgotten  the  thirst 
for  happiness. 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 


When  we  stray  from  Christ  anxiety  deepens  and  one  of 
the  commonest,  and  most  practical,  forms  of  it  is  concerning 
the  future.  How  shall  the  difficult  task  be  achieved  tomor- 
row? Dare  one  take  the  right  step  without  apprehension  as 
to  the  consequences?  A  strange  undefined  fear  steals  over 
the  personality  like  a  biting  blast  from  the  North.  It  moans 
through  the  hours  of  the  night,  it  whistles  through  the  duties 
of  the  day.  It  descends  upon  the  garden  of  life  like  frost- 
bite upon  the  fair  promises  of  fruit.  It  might  be  a  bracing 
tonic  if  it  aroused  sluggish  energies.  But  the  pity  of  it  is  that 
the  anxious  man  is  already  weakened  by  tomorrow  before  he 
sees  it.  Tomorrow  has  injured  or  destroyed  his  today. 
Anxiety  over  what  is  coming  has  taken  the  reality  out  of 
what  is  in  hand.  There  can  be  no  clear  light  upon  the  next 
step  until  there  is  concentration  upon  what  one  is  now  doing. 
There  can  be  no  future  until  there  is  a  definite  present  to 
which  one  gives  his  soul.  This  hour  belongs  to  us,  and  if  we 
do  not  possess  it,  we  shall  possess  no  other. 

Anxiety  defeats  the  very  end  it  has  in  view — it  not  only  robs 
lis  of  our  preparation  to  accomplish  what  awaits  us,  but  it 
consumes  the  interest  and  power  demanded  by  the  pressing 
needs  of  the  moment. 

lOI 


[X-c]       UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

But  the  presence  of  Christ  dominating  the  mind  in  the  pres- 
ent guards  the  personahty  against  the  invasion  of  tomorrow. 
He  and  his  zvill  are  our  tomorrow.  And  in  that  attitude  we 
have  both  present  victory  and  the  promise  of  future  achieve- 
ment. Christ  preserves  and  focuses  the  energies  in  the  pres- 
ent, which  is  the  supreme  preparation  for  whatever  may  hap- 
pen. The  person  who  is  waiting  for  something  to  turn  up 
cannot  really  be  prepared  for  what  may  present  itself,  while 
he  who  is  turning  up  something  in  the  present  is  being 
equipped  for  the  next  thing.  When  we  pursue  our  own 
anxious  way  we  are  simply  rushing  into  collision  with  the 
divine  order,  with  the  most  damaging  consequences ;  whereas 
when  we  recognize  that  the  future  is  not  our  burden  but  our 
Leader's,  we  move  in  the  rhythm  of  the  divine  purpose. 

II 

Of  course,  this  unanxious  attitude  towards  our  spiritual 
growth,  our  influence,  our  happiness,  and  our  future  pre- 
supposes some  clear  convictions.  It  implies  that  we  are  defi- 
nitely fulfilling  those  conditions  which  give  us  the  right  to 
trust  Christ  confidently  to  do  his  great  part  in  us  and  through 
us.  It  implies  that  we  have  firmly  assured  ourselves  that  we 
are  not  living  in  a  fool's  paradise  of  mere  apathetic  uncon- 
cern, making  the  vice  of  indifference  to  appear  as  the  virtue 
of  invincible  faith.  This  glorious  outlook  of  the  Christian 
soul  takes  for  granted  that  Christ  is  increasingly  real  to  us. 
We  are  becoming  more  intimate  with  him ;  the  friendship,  on 
the  whole,  is  growing.  We  are  taking  the  time  to  cultivate 
it.  Meditation,  prayer,  worship  on  the  one  hand,  and  obedi- 
ence to  our  Master's  will  in  the  detail  of  daily  life,  are  rec- 
ognized as  the  fundamental  facts  in  the  relationship.  Without 
this,  the  unanxious  attitude  becomes  presumption.  It  becofnes 
the  equivalent  of  casting  ourselves  down  from  the  pinnacle 
of  the  Temple  and  trusting  that  he  will  give  his  angels 
charge  concerning  us.  Trust  has  vast  privileges,  but  it  has 
simple  duties.  It  can  look  its  Lord  straight  in  the  face  only 
as  it  does  its  part,  or,  having  failed  in  doing  its  part,  comes 
back  in  penitence  to  begin  afresh.  But  Christ  will  not  lend 
himself  to  a  one-sided  attitude.  Ethical  reality  is  the  life's 
blood  of  the  gracious  and  spiritual  bond  between  him  and 
ourselves.     Let  us   never   forget  that   spiritual   relations   are 

102 


THE  RELEASE  FROM  ANXIETY  [X-c] 

not  the  substitute  for  ethical  relations — they  are  the  trans- 
figuration of  them.  Divine  grace  is  not  a  good-natured 
ethical  surrender  on  the  part  of  our  Lord.  "Shall  we  con- 
tinue in  sin,  that  grace  may  abound?  God  forbid."  Christ 
takes  charge  of  those  burdens  which  make  us  heavy  with 
anxiety,  not  to  liberate  us  from  moral  obligation,  but  in  order 
thereby  to  make  our  fulfilment  of  his  will  all  the  more  a 
triumphant  moral  achievement.  The  government  looks  after 
the  equipment  of  a  soldier,  not  that  he  may  lie  down  in  indo- 
lence, but  that  he'  may  all  the  better  with  freedom  of  action 
fulfil  his  destiny. 

The  unanxious  relation  to  Christ  concerning  spiritual 
grozvth,  influence,  happiness,  and  the  future  implies  that  there 
is  one  creative  reality  zvhich  is  the  maker  and  protector  of 
these  other  created  realities. 

The  creative  reality  being  His  presence  and  will  in  us,  it 
is  our  business  to  give  this  reality  its  opportunity  to  produce 
its  own  fruit.  V/e  cannot  make  fruit,  but  we  can  cooperate  with 
nature  in  producing  it.  I  see  great  clusters  of  grapes  silently 
growing  outside,  but  not  all  the  skill  of  mankind  could  directly 
create  one  of  them.  And  yet  we  try  to  create  greater  things 
than  grapes.  Just  as  nature  will  do  for  us  in  the  richest 
abundance  what  we  cannot  possibly  do  for  ourselves,  so  will 
Christ  do  for  us  when  we  recognize  that  it  is  his  function 
and  not  ours.  But  we  confuse  the  situation.  We  assume  re- 
sponsibility for  the  spiritual  fruit  as  well  as  root  of  our  lives, 
so  that  what  nature  does  in  a  garden  Christ  is  hindered  from 
doing  in  a  character.  We  try  to  manufacture  fruit  instead  of 
letting  it  grow.  Besides  assuming  the  responsibility  which 
legitimately  belongs  to  us,  we  meddle  with  a  problem  that  is 
immeasurably  beyond  us. 

This  simply  means  that  there  are  many  important  issues  in 
life,  but  one  main  issue.  There  is  one  primary  fact  out  of 
which  the  rest  naturally  emerge.  The  fireman  on  a  locomo- 
tive sees  that  there  is  enough  water  in  the  boiler  and  that 
the  coal  is  glowing  in  the  furnace,  and  steam  power  is  the 
result.  Nature  looks  after  the  production  of  steam.  The 
fireman  looks  after  the  conditions  to  be  fulfilled.  And  as 
nature  never  fails,  so  Christ  will  not  fail  in  the  part  he  has 
pledged  himself  to  play. 

This  unanxious  attitude  further  implies  that  we  are  pre- 
pared to  bide  Christ's  time  for  the  complete  vindication  of 

103 


[X-c]       UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

our  trust  that  he  is  doing  his  part.  "It  doth  not  yet  appear 
what  we  shall  be."  We  do  not  see  our  souls  growing,  and 
we  may  not  feel  them  progressing.  Nevertheless,  if  we  really 
have  committed  them  to  him  we  have  perfect  confidence  that, 
as  we  fulfil  conditions,  they  are  flourishing  under  his  care. 
We  are  trusting  him,  not  our  symptoms.  We  are  walking  by 
faith  and  not  by  sight.  You  do  not  see  the  securities  you  have 
placed  in  a  safe  deposit  vault.  You  do  not  consult  your  feel- 
ings as  to  whether  they  are  safe.  You  simply  trust,  on 
reasonable  guarantees,  and  that  is  the  sole  basis  of  your 
patient,  waiting  confidence.  So  in  regard  to  the  growth  of 
our  souls,  we  are  confident  that  when  he  shall  appear  we 
shall  be  like  him.  "As  for  me,  I  will  behold  thy  face  in 
righteousness :  I  shall  be  satisfied,  when  I  awake,  with  thy 
likeness." 

Our  influence,  too,  through  abiding  in  him  may  not  appear 
to  amount  to  much.  If  we  judged  it  according  to  appear- 
ances, we  might  be  greatly  discouraged.  But^'appearances  are 
not  necessarily  facts.  Far  greater  men  have  been  undis- 
couraged  by  appearances.  If  Paul  had  worried  about  the  out- 
ward appearances  of  his  influence  among  men,  it  would  have 
broken  his  great  heart.  It  would  have  frozen  over  his  enthu- 
siasm. But  he  committed  the  care  of  his  influence  to  his 
Master,  and  went  about  the  concerns  that  belonged  to  him. 
How  many  sleepless  nights  good  people  might  be  spared  if 
they  left  the  keeping  of  their  influence  where  it  belonged, 
and  were  unmoved  by  appearances.  "He  shall  bring  forth 
thy  righteousness  as  the  light." 

Ill 

The  consequences  of  the  unanxious  attitude  are  far-readh- 
ing  beyond  words,  and  in  many  directions.  We  have  hardly 
any  conception  as  to  how  we  arrest  our  spiritual  development 
by  our  unwarrantable  meddlings  with  ourselves.  Morbid  self- 
suspicion  and  self-analysis  work  havoc  in  spiritual  as  well  as 
in  physical  health.  But  the  unanxious  bearing  gives  Christ 
the  opportunity  in  which  he  glories.  It  is  in  this  way  we  leave 
ourselves  in  his  care.  He  gets  on  with  his  work,  and  con- 
tinuity of  growth  becomes  possible.  It  is  like  allowing  seeds 
to  remain  at  rest  in  the  ground  in  the  grip  of  nature,  instead 
of  driving  a  harrow  over  them,  uprooting  them.     There  is  a 

104 


THE  RELEASE  FROM  ANXIETY  [X-cI 

new  epoch  of  normal,  continuous,  quiet  progress  awaiting  a 
new  implicit  trust  that  there  is  Another  on  the  inner  problem 
besides  ourselves. 

It  is  also  in  this  way  that  joyousness  has  its  opportunity  to 
rise  within.  It  is  ghostly  fear  which  silences  the  instinctive 
songs  of  the  soul.  There  are  tides  of  gladness  within  us 
whose  waves  never  refresh  the  personality  into  newness  of 
strength,  because  they  are  held  back  by  barriers'  of  futile 
anxiety.  There  is  so  much  of  the  joy  of  the  Lord  within  us 
awaiting  the  opportunity  to  express  itself  in  ways  that  would 
make  for  more  power  and  delight  in  living,  even  among  the 
most  difficult  circumstances.  When  the  spell  of  anxious  re- 
pression is  withdrawn  there  rises  out  of  the  silence  a  new 
song,  like  that  of  a  skylark  which  has  escaped  from  a  harsh 
hand. 

The  tragedy  in  the  soul's  history  of  many  good  people  is 
that  they  are  living  in  the  winter  of  their  discontent,  when 
they  might  be  living  in  the  springtime  of  a  glorious  experi- 
ence. ^If  only  the  clouds  of  distrust  were  broken,  new  graces 
of  character  would  flower  in  the  sunlight  of  Christ's  presence, 
as  blossoms  cover  the  branches  of  the  tree  that  only  yesterday 
were  bare  and  without  promise.  And,  as  apostolic  life  bears 
witness,  this  is  possible  not  merely  in  aloofness  from  the 
work  of  the  world,  but  in  the  thick  of  the  struggle.  There 
are  thousands  of  men  and  women  today  who  know  the  mean- 
ing of  casting  all  their  care  upon  Him,  in  the  midst  of  sorrow 
upon  sorrow,  who  never  knew  the  meaning  of  it  in  all  the 
sheltered,  prosperous,  peaceful  past. 


105 


CHAPTER  XI 


The  Economic  Value  of  the 
New  Life 


DAILY  READINGS 

Eleventh  Week,  First  Day:  The  New  Simplicity 

of  Desire 

* 

Not  that  I  speak  in  respect  of  want:  for  I  have  learned, 
in  whatsoever  state  I  am,  therein  to  be  content.  I  know 
how  to  be  abased,  and  I  know  also  how  to  abound:  in 
everything  and  in  all  things  have  I  learned  the  secret  both 
to  be  filled  and  to  be  hungry,  both  to  abound  and  to  be 
in  want, — Phil.  4:  ii,  12. 

Real  Christianity  in  a  life  tends  towards  the  reduction  of 
physical  cravings — not  in  an  ascetic  sense,  but  through  trans- 
formed interest.  It  creates  a  shrinkage  in  certain  appetites. 
For  example,  it  counteracts  gluttony,  tippling,  impure  desire, 
indolence.  It  shifts  the  emphasis  of  desire  away  from  physi- 
cal impulses,  and  tends  to  place  the  emphasis  elsewhere.  That 
is  to  say,  when  one  lives  in  genuine  fellowship  with  Christ, 
there  takes  place  a  readjustment  of  his  economic  value. 

When  he  lived  apart  from  Christ  he  demanded  more  from 
society  than  he  now  claims.  It  may  be  he  demanded  more 
than  he  gave,  which,  of  course,  is  economically  unsound.  At 
any  rate,  in  every  personality  where  Christ  gets  his  way,  there 
is  a  continual  movement  towards  the  simplification  of  certain 
forms  of  desire.  If  every  man  lived  as  the  instincts  of  the 
divine  life  urge,  there  would  be  an  immediate  change  in  the 
entire  economic  situation.  I  do  not  mean  to  infer  that  all 
the  change  that  should  come  has  come.  But  can  there  be  any 
permanent  solution  of  economic  conditions  without  clearly 
facing  the  problem  of  the  fundamental  readjustment  of  the 

106 


ECONOMIC  VALUE  OF  NEW  LIFE        [XI-2J 

individual  to   the  whole F     And  this  is  something  which  can 

take  place  today.    While  other  questions  are  under  discussion, 

there  are  immediate  practical  changes  which  may  take  place 

within  our  own  lives,  without  which  every  other  change  on 
the  outside  must  prove  to  be  futile. 

Eleventh  Week,  Second  Day:  The  New  Humility 

Doing  nothing  through  faction  or  through  vainglory,  but 
in  lowliness  of  mind  each  counting  other  better  than  him- 
self; not  looking  each  of  you  to  his  own  things,  but  each 
of  you  also  to  the  things  of  others. — Phil.  2 :  3,  4. 

Christian  humility  is  the  opposite  of  self-consciousness. 
There  is  a  spurious  humility  which  is  self-conscious  and  it 
may  express  itself  outwardly  in  the  form  of  slovenly  shabbi- 
ness  or  by  a  certain  type  of  dress  or  way  of  living.  True 
humility  makes  no  display  of  self  by  one  kind  of  ostentation 
or  another.  It  does  not  call  attention  to  itself.  The  thoughts 
of  the  humble  mind  have  been  captured  by  Christ  in  «an 
enthusiasm  to  forget  self  in  following  him.  It  does  not 
cringe,  for  the  cringing  temper  is  painfully  self-conscious. 
Humility  in  this  majestic  attitude  of  freedom  from  the 
thought  of  self  realises  a  far-reaching  economic  result.  For 
the  really  humble  do  not  complicate  the  social  situation  by 
mere  display  in  clothes,  or  in  anything  else.  The  motive  for 
display  has  been  converted  and  absorbed  into  higher  ends. 
Thus  genuine  humility  tends  to  enable  a  person  to  give  to 
society  more  than  he  asks  from  it.  Is  there  anything  which 
complicates  the  social  situation  more  than  personal  pride? 
Is  there  anything  which  is  so  hungry  for  still  more  upon 
which  to  feed  its  antisocial  appetite?  Is  there  anything  which 
so  introduces  trouble  into  the  sqcial  fabric  as  trying  to  con- 
quer other  people  by  an  attitude  of  ostentatious  display? 
There  can  be  no  adequate  approach  to  social  equilibrium  until 
we  learn  the  meaning  of  the  words,  "Learn  of  me,  for  I  am 
meek  and  lowly  in  heart,  and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your 
souls." 

Eleventh  Week,  Third  Day:  The  New  Efficiency 

That  ye  put  away,  as  concerning  your  former  manner 
of  life,  the  old  man,  that  waxeth  corrupt  after  the  lusts  o£ 
deceit;  and  that  ye  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  your  mind, 

107 


[XI-4]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

and  put  on  the  new  man,  that  after  God  hath  been  created 
in  righteousness  and  holiness  of  truth. — Eph.  4:  22-24. 

Christ  does  for  the  Christian  mind  two  things  among  many- 
others  which  have  an  economic  significance.  He  concentrates 
the  thoughts,  and  he  encourages  the  mind  to  think  through 
its  problems.  For  he  is  continually  guarding  the  mind  against 
surrender  to  mere  distraction  and  curiosity.  Mental  concen- 
tration and  continuance  have  a  great  deal  to  do  with  efficiency 
and  thoroughness.  When  we  sift  economic  unprofitableness 
down  to  its  foundation,  we  discover  that  it  arises  in  a  large 
degree  from  lack  of  those  two  qualities.  There  is  infinitely 
greater  economic  loss  through  mental  inattention  and  shifti- 
ness than  through  lack  of  talent. 

The  steadied  mind  summons  the  whole  personality  to  its 
task,  and  finishes  it.  It  is  the  enemy  of  loose  ends.  It  is  the 
sworn  foe  of  indolent  dreaming.  If  that  attitude  of  mind 
could  be  guaranteed  in  every  worker,  think  of  the  great 
•economic  increase  of  work.  Think  of  the  loss  that  might 
never  take  place  through  fires,  breakage,  accidents  of  all 
kinds,  expensive  blunders,  and  what  not.  Think  of  the  things 
that  would  not  require  to  be  done  over  again,  by  those  who 
must  follow  up  the  careless.  Besides,  there  is  the  contagion 
of  carelessness,  and  happily  the  contagion  of  efficient  thor- 
oughness. 

Do  I  render  to  my  duties  that  concentration  and  thorough- 
ness which  make  for  economic  soundness? 


Eleventh  Week,  Fourth  Day :  The  New  Conscien- 
tiousness 

Wherefore,  putting  away  falsehood,  speak  ye  truth  each 
one  with  his  neighbor:  for  we  are  members  one  of  another. 
Be  ye  angry,  and  sin  not:  let  not  the  sun  go  down  upon 
your  wrath:  neither  give  place  to  the  devil.  Let  him  that 
stole  steal  no  more :  but  rather  let  him  labor,  working  with 
his  hands  the  thing  that  is  good,  that  he  may  have 
whereof  to  give  to  him  that  hath  need. — Eph.  4:  25-28. 

A  Christian  conscience  can  do  in  a  business  what  time  locks, 
detectives,  superintendents,  and  auditors  cannot  search  out. 
It  can  fundamentally  do  more  than  legislation,  for  it  first  of 
all  gets  after  the  legislator,  and  it  follows  up  his  legislation 

108 


ECONOMIC  VALUE  OF  NEW  LIFE        [XI-5] 

as  no  policeman  can  do.  It  can  get  more  into  the  heart  of 
things  than  the  X-ray  machine.  It  can  penetrate  further  into 
a  problem  than  any  human  contrivance.  It  can  keep  shoddy 
out  of  materials,  adulteration  out  of  food,  water  out  of  stock, 
doubleness  out  of  life,  eye-service  out  of  working  hours.  It 
can  keep  injustice  out  of  the  board  room  and  the  workroom. 

Granting  that  there  is  need  for  social  renewal,  is  there  any- 
thing in  the  social  fabric  which  can  take  the  place  of  a  new 
personal  conscientiousness?  There  must  always  be  disease 
spots  in  the  body  politic  where  conscience  does  not  reign  in 
life. 

Let  us  recognize  and  honor  the  economic  service  which 
men  and  women  render,  who,  in  their  present  lot,  are  living 
up  to  and  beyond  the  moral  standards  and  conventions  of 
their  surroundings.  They  are  doing  their  part  in  laying  the 
foundations  for  a  better  social  order,  without  which  no  social 
order  can  endure. 

Are  we  thus  working  at  the  center  as  well  as  the  circum- 
ference of  social  facts? 

Eleventh  Week,  Fifth  Day :  The  New  Ambition 

But  it  is  not  so  among  you:  but  whosoever  would  be- 
come great  among  you,  shall  be  your  minister;  and  who- 
soever would  be  first  among  you,  shall  be  servant  of  all. 
For  the  Son  of  man  also  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto, 
but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many. — 
Mark  10:  43-45. 

There  is  vast  need  for  us  to  find  an  aim  in  life  that  will 
be  sufficiently  powerful  to  command  the  fullest  energy  of  the 
human  faculties  and  that  at  the  same  time  will  make  for 
the  fullest  social  justice  to  our  fellows.  We  are  surely  pass- 
ing beyond  an  individualism  which  has  honored  individual 
success  without  considering  the  economic  injustice  it  may 
have  wrought. 

Christ  has  a  great  place  for  the  expansion  of  personality- 
through  a  subhme  aim,  but  he  has  no  place  for  personal  am- 
bition which  tends  to  make  equality  of  opportunity  impossible. 

The  Christian  ambition  is  not  to  "get  on" — it  is  to  serve, 
and  to  serve,  having  the  glory  of  God  as  a  supreme  motive^ 
Such  service  will  probably  "get  on."  But  the  point  is  that 
Christ  seeks  to  rearrange  our  emphasis.     He  seeks  to  make 

109 


[XI-6]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

life's  supreme  glory  to  consist  in  serving  and  not  in  being 
served,  in  self-sacrifice  and  not  in  what  one  has  amassed  or 
seeks  to  amass — v^hether  it  be  a  fortune  or  fame  or  power. 
The  ambition  which  puts  any  personal  advantage  in  front  of 
service  is  anti-Christian,  it  is  economically  unsound.  It  does 
not  matter  whether  it  be  in  an  individual  life,  a  church,  or 
a  business. 

Is  my  secret. ambition  economically  sound? 

Eleventh  Week,  Sixth  Day:-  The  New  Health 

And  if  Christ  is  in  you,  the  body  is  dead  because  of  sin; 
but  the  spirit  is  life  because  of  righteousness.  But  if  the 
Spirit  of  him  that  raised  up  Jesus  from  the  dead  dwelleth 
in  you,  he  that  raised  up  Christ  Jesus  from  the  dead  shall 
give  life  also  to  your  mortal  bodies  through  his  Spirit  that 
dwelleth  in  you. — Rom.  8:  lo,  ii. 

While  some  great  saints  have  been  great  invalids,  at  the 
same  time  the  presence  of  Christ  in  a  life  impels  toward  the 
increase  of  physical  health.  For  there  is  a  direct  tendency 
towards  health  in  the  control  of  physical  cravings.  Think  of 
the  vast  shrinkage  in  sickness  that  would  take  place  if  physi- 
cal appetites  were  really  under  divine  influence.  The  regula- 
tion of  the  thoughts  which  Christ  seeks  to  direct  into  chan- 
nels of ,  healthymindedness  has  a  far-reaching  implication 
towards  physical  health. 

More  than  one  nerve  specialist  has  told  me  that  his  great 
difficulty  with  many  patients  is  the  problem  of  uncontrolled 
thought.  The  absence  of  fear,  the  casting  out  of  anxiety,  the 
curbing  of  unrest  arising  from  unbridled  ambition,  all  make 
for  health.  The  sense  of  forgiveness  and  of  the  divine  pres- 
ence and  power,  the  sanguine  spirit,  the  steadied  imagination, 
communicate  tone  even  to  the  body. 

The  conquering  spiritual  energy  which  wrestles  with  indo- 
lence, moods,  and  discouragements,  and  the  faith  which  lays 
hold  upon  spiritual  power,  literally  quicken  the  mortal  body. 
The  spiritual  life,  dominating  and  reenforcing  the  physical 
life,  thereby  proclaims  such  ascendancy  to  be  a  great  economic 
asset. 

Does  my  Christianity  get  sufficient  opportunity  to  express 
itself  in  terms  of  physical  health? 

no 


ECONOMIC  VALUE  OF  NEW  LIFE        [XI-7] 

Eleventh  Week,  Seventh  Day:  The  New  Compre- 
hensive Economic  Value 

For  bodily  exercise  is  profitable  for  a  little;  but  godli- 
ness is  profitable  for  all  things,  having  promise  o£  the  life 
which  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come.  Faithful  is  the 
saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation.  For  to  this  end 
we  labor  and  strive,  because  we  have  our  hope  set  on  the 
living  God,  who  is  the  Saviour  of  all  men,  especially  of 
them  that  believe. — I  Tim.  4:  8-10. 

The  really  spiritual  life  tends  to  express  itself  in  an  all- 
round  practical  efficiency.  The  whole  movement  of  the  divine 
life  in  the  human  spirit  is  in  the  direction  of  increasing  one's 
social  value  in  every  direction.  There  is  nothing  which  can 
take  its  place,  when  the  all-inclusiveness  of  the  Christian  im- 
pulse is  "considered.  For  the  influence  of  Christ  is  a  consistent 
whole.  It  does  not  cancel  at  one  point  what  it  emphasizes  at 
another,  like  a  non-spiritual  efficiency,  which  may  be  brilliant 
but  unscrupulous,  concentrated  but  cruelly  ambitious. 

The  economic  value  of  a  non-religious  efficiency  in  one 
direction  may  be  completely  discounted  by  lack  of  conscience 
in  another.  It  may  be  far  more  than  discounted ;  the  result 
in  this  sum  of  economic  subtraction  may  be  an  alarming 
minus  quantity.  That  is  why  the  public  is  becoming  more 
and  more  inquisitive  regarding  the  other  side  of  the  question 
of  a  man's  public  philanthropy. 

But  where  Christ  reigns  there  will  be  a  balance,  a  propor- 
tion, a  consistency,  in  the  economic  contribution.  If  Christ 
gets  the  chance  he  seeks  in  a  life,  it  becomes  the  seed  plot  of 
symmetrical  economic  progress. 

Is  my  life  consistent  in  its  economic  relationships? 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 

I 

If  the  spiritually  careless  man  could  see  how  far-reaching 
were  the  social  effects  of  his  carelessness,  he  would  have  a 
new  motive  for  spiritual  concern.  At  present  too  many  see  it 
to  be  merely  a  matter  of  their  own  business  whether  they 
pray,  or  cultivate  in  any  way  relations  with  the  eternal  world. 
They  think  nobody  is  affected  but  themselves  in  the  attitude 
which  they  take  up.     But  of  course  this  is  not  the  case.     If 

III 


[XI-c]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

spiritual  living  has  an  economic  value,  then  the  lack  of  it  is 
a  distinct  economic  loss. 

Every  prayerless  life,  and  every  prayerless  day,  work  out 
badly  for  society.  Every  spiritual  disobedience  is  a  handicap 
upon  the  practical  life  of  the  world.  For  example,  whenever  a 
man  comes  to  the  breakfast  table  without  previous  devotional 
refreshment,  he  is  more  liable  to  uncertain  moods,  to  ill- 
temper,  to  complaining,  to  depression  and  discouragement. 
He  affects  the  whole  household.  He  goes  out  having  his  per- 
sonality out  of  tune  with  the  highest  progress,  and  that  atti- 
tude consciously  or  unconsciously  goes  into  what  he  does, 
and  how  he  does  it,  and  the  seeds  of  it  are  sown  broadcast. 
There  is  no  human  mathematics  which  can  compute  the 
blighting  influence  of  a  personality  out  of  relation  with  the 
divine  mind.  That  such  influence  has  serious  economic  con- 
sequences is  beyond  question.  Would  you  say  that  one  who 
discouraged  others  through  lack  of  personal  faith  and  opti- 
mism did  not  work  against  their  economic  efficiency?  You 
have  only  to  consider  how  discouragement  has  affected  your 
own  life.  It  reduced  your  working  power.  It  clouded  your 
mental  vision.  It  robbed  you  of  the  joy  which  was  a  distinct 
■element  in  your  moral  capital.  That  discouragement  actually 
reduced  your  economic  output. 

When  you  consider  the  case  of  a  positively  bad  life,  in 
which  overt  acts  reach  others  with  damaging  effectiveness, 
then  the  uneconomic  consequences  become  frightful.  There 
is  let  loose  upon  society  that  which  becomes  an  increasing 
social  burden,  piling  up  the  sum  of  human  misery. 

If  the  natural  history  of  an  evil  act  could  be  clearly  fol- 
lowed, and  revealed  to  the  evildoer's  intelligence,  as  its  activ- 
ity still  goes  forward  into  the  life  of  the  world  long  after  he 
has  forgotten  it,  there  would  be  started  a  new  train  of  thought 
in  his  mind  regarding  the  relation  between  individual  spiritual 
condition  and  the  practical  corporate  life  of  mankind. 

II 

But  in  considering  the  economic  bearing  of  the  individual 
life,  it  is  not  enough  to  be  content  with  the  fulfilment  of  cer- 
tain religious  practices.  It  is  possible  for  one  to  read  the 
Bible  and  to  pray  and  yet  to  come  before  the  world  with  an 
unrenewed  personality.     That  is  why  some  have  lost  faith  in 

112 


ECONOMIC  VALUE  OF  NEW  LIFE        [XI-c] 

th;  devotional  aspect  of  life.  They  have  not  observed  that 
it  has  made  much  difference  in  the  conduct  of  their  friends. 
Of  course,  the  trouble  is  that  some  people  simply  make  those 
acts  of  religious  practice  ends  in  themselves,  and  consequently 
defeat  Christ  in  his  aim  to  reach  and  renew  the  inner  life. 
Christ's  actual  power  does  not  get  its  opportunity  to  reach 
the  character.  The  vital  contact  has  not  been  made.  The 
husk  has  been  taken  for  the  kernel.  The  scaffolding  has 
been  substituted  for  the  building.  The  form  has  been  mis- 
taken for  the  power.  The  result  is  that  at  least  two  wrongs 
have  been  perpetrated.  The  life  has  not  been  renewed.  It 
has  been  cheated  out  of  its  spiritual  refreshment.  It  has 
failed  to  receive  its  equipment  for  making  its  full  economic 
contribution.  And,  besides,  people  are  watching  who  have 
thus  been  robbed  of  their  faith  in  the  practical  value  of  the 
spiritual  life. 

It  is  therefore  of  the  most  urgent  and  vital  importance  that 
professing  Christian  people  press  beyond  the  vestibule  of 
spiritual  reality  to  the  presence  of  Christ,  if  their  lives  are  to 
possess  that  economic  value  Christ  meant  them  to  impart. 
For  there  is  no  final  economic  value  in  mere  religiosity.  The 
divine  life  must  reach  us  at  the  focus  point  of  our  character. 
The  actual  spiritual  power  must  reach  our  weakness. 

There  is  no  substitute  for  the  infusion  of  divine  life  into 
the  human  spirit.  Christianity  must  be  real  there  or  it  can 
be  real  nowhere.  That  is  the  climax  of  all  its  history  and 
machinery.    That  is  the  fountain-head  of  its  social  renewal. 

Ill 

Jesus  put  the  supreme  emphasis  for  the  coming  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God  upon  the  spiritually  renewed  individual, 
and  not  only  the  ijidividual  but  the  individual  leader. 

He  looked  to  an  inner  circle  of  regenerated  persons  whom 
he  instructed  to  be  leaders  and  he  trusted  them  as  the  supreme 
means  whereby  all  change  should  be  effected. 

The  reformer  who  says  he  puts  the  supreme  emphasis  for  his 
hope  of  social  change  upon  social  conditions,  contradicts  his 
own  position,  for  he  makes  his  protest  as  an  individual.  For 
it  is  only  as  individuals  like  himself  reach  social  conditions 
that  there  can  be  change.  Without  the  individual  leaders  to 
realize  it,  there  is  no  real  social  progress.     That  is  surely  a 

113 


[XI-c]     UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

matter  of  historic  fact.  So  then  Christ's  method  of  expecting 
advance  to  come  primarily  through  the  Christian  leader  is  the 
supreme  way.    It  is  not  the  only  ivay,  but  it  is  primary. 

The  individual  leader  who  seeks  to  affect  the  social  situa- 
tion may  try  two  methods  in  order  to  achieve  his  purpose. 
He  may  stand  outside  of  it,  as  it  were,  and  try  to  change  it 
as  a  fireman  endeavors  to  put  out  a  fire.  Standing  outside 
of  it,  the  fireman  guides  a  torrent  of  water  upon  the  flames. 
So  there  are  men  and  women  who  seek  to  help  society  by 
looking  upon  themselves  as  outside  the  conditions  with  which 
they  seek  to  deal.  But  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  the  totally 
different  way  of  helping  society  by  recognizing  that  the  worker 
himself  is  part  of  the  social  problem.  He  sees  himself  as 
part  of  the  fire  to  be  put  out,  as  it  were.  He  cannot  detach 
himself  as  if  all  his  own  personal  problems  had  nothing  to 
do  with  the  social  situation,  while  he  simply  deals  with  social 
conditions. 

It  is  this  latter  way  which  is  Christ's  way.  He  says  to  the 
leader  whom  he  seeks  to  lead:  "You  are  part  of  the  social 
organism  which  you  seek  to  change,  and  if  you  are  to  change 
it  you  must  yourself  be  changed."  The  individual  who  pur- 
sues Christ's  way  of  changing  the  world  is  all  the  time  being 
changed  in  his  own  inner  life.  He  does  not,  he  cannot,  ignore 
the  fact  that  his  own  character  and  life  and  problems  are  just 
as  much  a  part  of  the  situation  as  those  of  other  people.  He 
recognizes  that  it  would  be  great  foolishness  to  work  for  the 
redemption  of  society,  if  his  own  case  were  not  being  attended 
to  at  the  same  time. 

It  is  just  here  that  a  good  deal  of  confusion  arises.  There 
are  large  numbers  of  well  meaning  people  who  are  completely 
satisfied  because  they  are  doing  good  work.  But  the  unfortu- 
nate thing  is  that  what  they  are  trying  to  do  in  society  has 
not  yet  been  achieved  in  themselves.  They  are  seeking,  let 
us  say,  economic  soundness  in  their  community,  but  they 
themselves  are  not  living  in  an  attitude  of  economic  sound- 
ness towards  society.  They  are  trying  to  drive  the  weeds  out 
of  the  garden  of  society,  but  while  they  toil  at  the  task  they 
are  dropping  through  holes  in  their  pockets  seeds  of  those 
very  weeds  which  they  are  busy  uprooting.  It  may  be  even 
worse  than  that.  I  have  heard  men  rail  against  our  present 
social  order  in  such  a  spirit  of  unbridled  vindictiveness,  that 
unless  they  were  greatly  changed  in  their  own  inner  life  they 

114 


ECONOMIC  VALUE  OF  NEW  LIFE        [XI-c] 

would  turn  the  Utopia  for  which  they  were  laboring  into  an 
inferno  of  hate. 

In  seeking  the  realization  of  the  world's  new  day,  Christ 
lays  the  stress  primarily  upon  individual  renewal,  that  each 
may  bring  to  the  corporate  life  that  personal  soundness  which 
is  the  guarantee  of  larger  renewal.  Christ  challenges  each 
renewed  life  to  become  a  propagandist,  a  leader,  for  such  a  life 
has  a  secret,  a  message,  a  contribution  which  is  of  vital  im- 
portance to  the  life  of  the  whole  world. 

IV 

While  it  is  true  that  the  supreme  emphasis  is  laid  by  Christ 
upon  the  sound  contribution  which  the  individual  makes  to 
the  world,  it  is  also  true  that  economic  conditions  have  an  im- 
portant effect  upon  the  individual.  Large  numbers  of  people  are 
stunted  by  an  economic  fear.  They  are  afraid  of  the  con- 
sequences of  being  sick,  of  losing  their  position,  of  the  fierce 
competition  with  which  they  have  to  contend,  of  the  problem 
of  a  subsistence.  While  it  is  true  that  the  triumph  of  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  in  a  life  will  mean  a  great  victory  over 
economic  fears,  it  is  also  true  that  Christ  has  a  vast  interest 
in  the  conditions  under  which  men  and  women  live.  It  is 
quite  true  he  had  a  kind  of  contempt  for  physical  comfort, 
and  he  taught  his  disciples  to  have  no  fear  of  pain  or  death; 
at  the  same  time  he  had  a  passionate  enthusiasm  for  the  cause 
of  the  poor  and  the  oppressed.  He  taught  that  men  were  the 
providence  of  God  to  men,  that  for  men  to  ignore  the  op- 
pressive conditions  under  which  their  fellows  lived  was  to 
earn  the  certain  judgment  of  God.     . 

Since  the  Spirit  of  Christ  is  the  spirit  of  a  great  compassion, 
and  since  the  Spirit  of  Christ  moves  towards  corporate  ex- 
pression, therefore  it  must  carry  that  corporate  compassion 
against  the  citadel  of  corporate  injustice  wherever  it  exists. 
Jesus  voiced  that  temper  when  he  said  of  Herod :  "Go  tell 
that  fox."  He  had  national  personalities  in  his  mind.  When 
he  exposed  the  Pharisees  he  had  false  national  tendencies  as 
the  object  of  his  denunciation.  But  he  never  surrendered  his 
cause  to  any  mere  social  system.  He  carried  the  whole  of  his 
program  into  the  human  situation.  He  never  retreated  from 
the  supreme  facts — God,  the  soul,  and  human  destiny. 


IIS 


CHAPTER  XII 

The  Individual  Contribution 
to  Progress 

DAILY  READINGS 
Twelfth  Week,  First  Day:  Personal  Atmosphere 

And  they  said  one  to  another,  Was  not  our  heart  burning 
within  us,  while  he  spake  to  us  in  the  way,  while  he 
opened  to  us  the  scriptures?  And  they  rose  up  that  very 
hour,  and  returned  to  Jerusalem,  and  found  the  eleven 
gathered  together,  and  them  that  were  with  them. — Luke 
24:  32,  33- 

Is  not  this  the  very  first  point  of  contact  between  an  in- 
dividual and  the  world  in  which  he  lives?  It  is  not  primarily 
what  he  says,  or  even  what  he  may  try  to  achieve,  but  the 
atmosphere  he  unconsciously  exhales,  which  is  the  immediate 
impact  upon  others.  It  is  a  powerful  social  fact  for  good  or 
evil.  Some  people,  apart  altogether  from  the  value  of  their 
words,  or  even  actions,  produce  in  us  a  cleansing,  liberating, 
healing  influence.  We  go  from  their  presence  at  our  best. 
There  are  others  from  whom  we  go  fettered,  silent,  depressed, 
and  not  at  our  best. 

Every  one  of  us  is  unconsciously  exerting  some  such  power, 
for  there  is  no  escape  from  it.  We  are  all  drawing  the  world 
upward,  or  dragging  it  downward,  according  to  the  atmos- 
phere which  goes  out  from  us. 

It  is  the  inner  condition  which  throws  off  this  by-product. 
And  our  inner  condition  may  be  changed  according  as  we  are 
related  to  the  eternal  or  otherwise.  Through  communion  with 
Christ  there  may  be  started  a  change  in  the  inner  life  which 
all  unconsciously  works  out  as  a  healing  spell  upon  others, 

116 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  CONTRIBUTION     [XII-c] 

Withdrawal  from  such  communion  often  produces  an  entirely 
opposite  effect. 

Do  we  give  Christ  an  opportunity  to  exert  his  uplifting 
ministry  through  us  ? 

Twelfth  Week,  Second  Day :  Suggestion  o£  Eternal 
Reality 

And  being  let  go,  they  came  to  their  own  company,  and 
reported  all  that  the  chief  priests  and  the  elders  had  said 
unto  them.  And  they,  when  they  heard  it,  lifted  up  their 
voice  to  God  with  one  accord,  and  said,  O  Lord,  thou  that 
didst  make  the  heaven  and  the  earth  and  the  sea,  and  all 
that  in  them  is:  who  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  the  mouth  of 
our  father  David  thy  servant,  didst  say, 
Why  did  the  Gentiles  rage, 
And  the  peoples  imagine  vain  things? 

—Acts  4:  23-25/ 

V 

It  must  be  so  that  large  numbers  of  people  crave  to  get 
away  from  the  tyranny  of  material  things.  They  are  surfeited 
by  the  sights  and  sounds  of  the  world,  without  themselves 
being  able  to  find  escape  into  the  presence  of  God.  But  they 
are  ready  and  eager  to  have  done  for  them  what  Words- 
worth's poetry  did  for  John  Stuart  Mill. 

I  heard  one  man  say  of  another  that  when  he  heard  him 
speak  it  was  as  if  a  curtain  had  been  drawn  aside  and  he  saw 
into  the  eternal.  A  life  had  done  what  argument  had  com- 
pletely failed  to  do.  Something  like  this  happened  when  a 
friend  heard  Mr.  Lincoln  speak  at  Cooper  Union  in  New 
York. 

It  has  always  seemed  to  me  that  the  personality  of  Stephen 
did  some  such  service  for  Saul  of  Tarsus.  Indeed,  it  would 
seem  as  if  the  apostles  arrested  the  attention  of  their  con- 
temporaries for  their  message  to  a  large  degree  in  this  way. 
Their  lives  suggested,  unveiled,  revealed,  the  spiritual  world. 

There  are  surely  multitudes  ready  to  let  go  their  feverish 
grasp  of  temporal  things,  if  only  there  were  a  sufficiently  real 
revelation  of  what  is  beyond  the  veil  of  sense  to  capture  them. 
This  has  been  done  in  the  past  for  whole  communities  by 
transfigured  individuals.  And  those  individuals  did  more  for 
the  moral  and  social  uplifting  of  their  fellows  than  any  other 

117 


[XII-3]    UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

factor   in   the   situation,    for   they  brought  men    face   to   face 
with  God, 

Is  the  eternal  world  sufficiently  real  to  us  to  make  it  real 
to  others  through  us? 

Twelfth  Week,  Third  Day:  Moral  Originality 

Now  there  were  dwelling  at  Jerusalem  Jews,  devout 
men,  from  every  nation  under  heaven.  And  when  this 
sound  was  heard,  the  multitude  came  together,  and  were 
confounded,  because  that  every  man  heard  them  speaking 
in  his  own  language.  And  they  were  all  amazed  and  mar- 
velled, saying,  Behold,  are  not  all  these  that  speak  Gali- 
laeans?  And  how  hear  we,  every  man  in  our  own  language 
wherein  we  were  born? — Acts  2:  5-8. 

Union  with  Christ  enabled  men  to  live  beyond  their  sur- 
roundings. There  were  forces  within  them,  they  had  an  aim 
and  a  message  for  which  their  contemporaries  could  not  ac- 
count. They  were  beyond  their  times.  That  is  the  place  of 
Christianity  and  the  function  of  Christians  in  the  world.  They 
were  meant  to  be  the  pioneers  of  a  program  which  is  ahead 
of  the  age.  The  part  given  them  to  play  is  not  born  of 
eccentricity,  for  eccentricity  may  be  merely  aggressive  self- 
consciousness.  The  follower  of  Christ  is  called  upon  to  take 
a  morally  original  part  in  the  life  of  the  world.  For  Christ 
seeks  to  lead  the  world  out  beyond  its  moral  stupidities  and 
repetitions.  When  we  live  in  an  attitude  of  disobedience,  we 
simply  live  over  what  has  been  lived.  It  is  an  imitation.  It 
is  an  echo  of  the  past.  Sin  is  a  mere  repetition  of  an  old 
story.  But  as  Christ  gets  the  right  of  way  in  Christian  lives, 
there  is  started  a  movement  beyond  the  frontier  of  conven- 
tion. For  there  is  no  such  thing  as  moral  originality  apart 
from  the  overture  of  a  divine  suggestion  finding  hospitality 
in  responsive  souls.  Christians,  and  Christian  churches,  must 
either  be  reaching  beyond  things  as  they  are  or  lose  their  real 
function.  A  Christianity  which  merely  follows  public  opinion 
instead  of  creating  it  is  not  the  Christianity  of  Christ. 

Are  we  echoes  of  Christ  or  of  our  surroundings? 

Twelfth  Week,  Fourth  Day:  Testimony 

He  therefore  answered,  Whether  he  is  a  sinner,  I  know 
not:  one  thing  I  know,  that,  whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I 

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THE  INDIVIDUAL  CONTRIBUTION     [XII-5] 

see.  They  said  therefore  unto  him,  What  did  he  do  to 
thee?  how  opened  he  thine  eyes?  He  answered  them,  I 
told  you  even  now,  and  ye  did  not  hear;  wherefore  would 
ye  hear  it  again?  would  ye  also  become  his  disciples?— 
John  9:  25-27. 

Christ  cannot  be  satisfied  by  merely  doing  good  through  the 
lives  of  his  disciples.  He  has  a  secret  to  communicate,  a  mes- 
sage to  deliver,  through  each  one.  For  every  Christian  has 
been  called  to  be  a  witness.  He  may  not  preach,  but  he  must 
bear  witness.  The  Christian  idea  of  progress  is  to  carry  the 
whole  of  essential  Christianity  into  the  life  of  the  world. 
Christianity  not  only  offers  through  the  Christian  witness  the 
fruit  of  kindly  deeds,  which  it  has  grown  on  the  tree  of  its 
life;  it  also  scatters  the  seeds  from  which  the  fruit  has  grown. 

Can  there  be  any  real  progress  without  there  being  brought 
into  it  the  fundamental  message  of  Christ  to  the  troubled 
soul?  There  are  very  many  eagerly  waiting  for  the  Chris- 
tian's secret  of  inner  peace,  and  that  secret  may  perhaps  be 
most  effectively  communicated  through  the  testimony  of  those 
who  have  experienced  it.  Where  vast  numbers  are  confused 
is  in  knowing  how  to  enter  definitely  into  the  peace  of  Christ. 
So  much  preaching  is  over  their  heads,  or  wide  of  the  mxark — 
they  want  a  simple,  unvarnished  explanation  as  to  how  others 
have  entered  into  Christian  reality.  There  must  be  a  return 
to  religious  conversation,  free  from  cant,  if  large  numbers  of 
seekers  are  to  find  the  way  of  peace. 

The  witness  must  summon  the  courage  to  help  humbly  and 
tactfully  the  shy  soul  groping  for  light. 

Have  we  a  spiritual  secret  which  would  be  of  immense 
value  to  those  who  are  blindly  seeking  for  it? 


Twelfth  Week,  Fifth  Day :  Social  Sympathy 

And  if  I  bestow  all  my  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  if  I 
give  my  body  to  be  burned,  but  have  not  love,  it  profiteth 
me  nothing.  Love  suffereth  long,  and  is  kind;  love  envieth 
not;  love  vaunteth  not  itself,  is  not  puffed  up. — I  Cor.  13: 
3,  4. 

Christianity  does  not  understand  love  to  be  merely  another 
word  for  service.  Service  may  be  simply  professionalism,  a 
hard  officialism,  which  tends  to  eliminate  from  service  the 

119 


[XII-6]   UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

deepest  elements  in  personality.  We  cannot  eliminate  love 
from  service  without  hardening  the  inner  life,  without  with- 
holding from  those  whom  we  serve  that  which  is  their  due. 

The  New  Testament  idea  of  love  is  the  ordinary  article  at 
high  pressure.  This  word  needs  reinterpretation  as  applied 
to  social  relations,  for  without  Christian  love  there  can  be  no 
abiding  social  cohesion.  As  tepid  water  is  not  an  equivalent 
for  steam,  so  mere  kindly  feeling  is  not  enough  for  the  task 
of  Christian  love.  We  are  exposed  to  the  temptations  of 
brainless  sentiment  on  the  one  hand  and  to  heartless  mechan- 
ism on  the  other.  Christian  love  has  both  a  great  self-effacing 
sympathy  and  an  intellectual  heroism  in  it.  The  reason  why 
it  has  often  become  tepid  is  sometimes  because  the  intellectual 
heroism  necessary  in  order  to  give  it  social  reality  has  been 
lacking;  in  other  instances  the  passionate  sympathy  has  been 
wanting.  We  need  a  greater  working  balance  between  these 
two  elements  in  Christian  love. 

Is  my  social  sympathy  expressing  itself  through  both  heart 
and  mind? 

Twelfth  Week,  Sixth  Day:  A  Confident  Spirit 

Beareth  all  things,  believeth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things, 
endureth  all  things.  Love  never  faileth:  but  whether  there 
be  prophecies,  they  shall  be  done  away;  whether  there  be 
tongues,  they  shall  cease;  whether  there  be  knowledge,  it 
shall  be  done  away. — I  Cor.  13:  7,  8. 

Faith  in  Christ  creates  a  spirit  of  trust  in  our  fellows,  and 
a  sanguine  attitude  towards  the  tasks  in  front  of  us.  This 
may  be  expressed  as  a  spirit  of  confidence.  Without  such  a 
relation  to  society  we  cannot  become  vital  factors  in  the 
achievement  of  progress.  For  confidence  is  that  which  makes 
corporate  existence  possible.  Without  it  the  family  life, 
friendship,  commerce,  finance,  could  not  hold  together.  Un- 
til, therefore,  individuals  are  dominated  by  this  temper 
they  cannot  be  sharers  in  a  progressive  movement;  in  fact 
they  may  simply  succeed  in  damaging  what  already  exists  of 
it.  A  man  without  trust  in  his  fellows  and  without  the  spirit 
of  optimism  becomes  anti-social. 

In  our  sustained  association  with  Christ,  however,  both 
aspects  of  the  spirit  of  confidence  are  strengthened.  None 
were  so  trustful  of  his  fellows  as  Jesus  was.    He  believed  in 

120 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  CONTRIBUTION     [XII-7I 

the  highest  possibilities  of  the  worst  of  men ;  he  committed 
the  most  transcendent  of  causes  to  the  hands  of  men  who  had 
formerly  failed.  No  one  was  ever  so  sanguine  of  achieve- 
ment in  relation  to  the  tasks  in  front  of  him  as  was  the 
Master. 

As  we  appropriate  this  spirit  of  our  Leader  we  become  fit 
to  cooperate  in  the  divine  enterprise  of  progress. 

Are  we  bringing  something  of  this  bearing  to  a  panic- 
stricken  world  ? 

Twelfth  Week,  Seventh  Day:  Intercessory  Prayer 

But  when  he  saw  the  multitudes,  he  was  moved  with 
compassion  for  them,  because  they  were  distressed  and 
scattered,  as  sheep  not  having  a  shepherd.  Then  saith  he 
unto  his  disciples,  The  harvest  indeed  is  plenteous,  but 
the  laborers  are  few.  Pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the 
harvest,  that  he  send  forth  laborers  into  his  harvest. — 
Matt.  9:  36-38. 

Those  who  know  what  prayer  really  means,  through  the 
practice  of  it,  are  convinced  that  this  is  a  supreme  element 
in  the  problem  of  the  renewal  of  the  world.  They  have 
learned  that  it  is  through  prayer  God  gets  his  opportunity  to 
use  the  human  personality  as  a  means  for  the  conveyance  of 
divine  power  and  illumination  to  other  lives.  For  inter- 
cessory prayer  is  not  an  attempt  to  use  God  for  personal 
ends;  it  is  rather  the  offering  up  of  the  Christian  life  to  be- 
come a  medium,  an  instrument,  of  the  divine  activity  in  reach- 
ing lives.  It  is  thus  we  become  co-workers  with  God.  If  God 
did  his  work  directly  upon  other  lives  we  could  not  cooperate 
with  him. 

In  other  spheres  than  the  spiritual,  it  is  the  personalities 
of  men  which  have  brought  the  invisible  laws  of  God  down 
to  the  practical  needs  of  mankind.  The  gardener  cooperates 
with  nature  in  the  production  of  a  new  kind  of  rose.  The 
inventor  brings  a  law  which  has  always  existed  down  to  the 
actual  necessities  of  the  hour.  Man  rises  into  copartnership 
with  God  on  behalf  of  man,  his  personality  becomes  the  con- 
ductor of  reality  from  the  invisible  down  to  practical  needs. 
So  in  intercession  one  yields  up  his  being  to  the  purpose  and 
power  of  God  to  become  an  opportunity  for  God.  It  is  those 
who  pray  most  who  are  most   deeply  convinced  that  inter- 

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[XII-c]    UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

cession    fulfils    a    sublime    function    in    God's    contact    with 
humanity. 

Is  intercessory  prayer  a  working  element  in  our  contribu- 
tion to  progress? 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 


In  considering  some  of  the  elements  in  the  fundamental 
Christian  contribution  to  social  progress  we  are  not  here  con- 
cerned with  the  question  as  to  the  ultimate  social  theory 
which  shall  govern  society. 

It  is  not  because  that  problem  is  considered  to  be  of  small 
consequence,  but  simply  because  our  purpose  is  to  find  an  im- 
mediate Christian  point  of  contact  with  the  world  as  it  is. 
There  is  no  large  unanimity  as  to  what  is  coming,  or  as  to 
what  should  come,  in  the  way  of  the  highest  form  of  social 
order.  The  literature  upon  this  subject  is  almost  as  varied 
as  it  is  vast.  I  never  realized  what  different  opinions  in- 
dividuals could  hold  upon  this  topic  until  I  heard  Mr.  Bernard 
Shaw  and  Mr.  G.  K.  Chesterton  publicly  debate  upon  social- 
ism. That  gathering  appeared  to  me  to  be  a  veritable  cave 
of  Adullam,  of  two  opposing  camps  in  an  attitude  of  almost 
fanatical  fervor. 

While  it  is  the  duty  of  a  Christian  to  think  through  the 
question  of  a  satisfactory  theory  of  social  renewal,  if  he  has 
the  time,  there  is  the  immediate  and  undeniable  duty  of  bring- 
ing to  the  social  situation  that  which  any  righteous  form  of 
social  order  will  require  if  it  is  to  guarantee  stability  and 
progress. 

We  have  a  practical  relation  to  the  world  as  it  is  today,  and 
it  is  possible  for  us  to  bring  a  contribution  which  shall  be  an 
asset  in  whatever  may  be  its  outlook  tomorrow.  One  thing 
is  certain,  there  can  he  no  adequate  attempt  to  realize  the 
visible  ideal  social  state  except  as  there  is  first  of  all  the 
recognition  that  there  is  an  invisible  one.  There  must  be  a 
spiritual  apprehension  of  a  great  invisible  reality  before  there 
can  be  a  social  attempt  to  achieve  it.  There  are  two  uni- 
verses, if  you  like,  an  intangible  and  a  tangible.  Christianity 
is  the  embodiment  of  the  invasion  of  the  unseen  universe  upon 
the  seen.  //  we  are  to  be  true  to  the  spirit  of  Christ  we  must 
maintain  a  broader  relation  to   the  world  situation  than  to 

122 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  CONTRIBUTION     [XII-c] 

identify  it  completely  with  any  theory  of  social  reformation. 
Jesus  Christ  did  not  surrender  his  cause  to  any  partisanship 
of  his  time,  and  no  doubt  the  temptation  presented  itself,  for 
zealous  partisanship  existed  in  many  directions  in  the  public 
outlook.  If  Jesus  had  made  such  a  surrender,  it  would  of 
course  have  turned  into  a  mere  local  and  passing  movement 
his  world  outlook  and  his  outlook  through  the  ages  of  time. 

II 

The  first  thing,  then,  for  the  Christian  who  seeks  to  trans- 
late the  mind  of  Christ  into  social-  facts  is  to  recognize  that 
the  program  which  it  is  his  business  to  fulfil  is  Christ's  pro- 
gram. It  is  for  him  to  cling  to  the  leadership  of  the  supreme 
Leader,  to  refuse  to  surrender  to  a  merely  popular  and  partial 
interpretation  of  it  the  program  that  Christ  expects  him  to 
make  eft'ective. 

The  temptation  confronts  the  disciple  of  Christ  who  has  a 
keen  social  sympathy,  to  break  away  from  the  leadership  of 
the  Leader,  and  to  plunge  into  the  seething  welter  of  con- 
fusion— to  do  something,  anything,  without  concern  for  the 
relation  of  the  part  to  the  whole,  without  vision  as  to  what 
is  of  primary  and  what  is  of  secondary  importance,  to  slash 
away  at  something. 

But  the  individual  Christian  who  is  to  have  a  share  in 
Christ's  program  for  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  must 
grasp  the  momentous  fact  that  the  one  kind  of  effort  which 
counts  from  Christ's  point  of  view  is  obedient  effort.  For 
Christ  has  the  full  program  in  his  own  keeping,  and  his  pro- 
gram is  a  unit;  it  has  a  unity  of  scheme,  and  no  one  man  can 
see  his  particular  sphere  in  that  scheme  of  things  except  as 
he  maintains  his  relation  to  Him  who  is  directing  the  cam- 
paign. 

It  is  only  thus  that  there  can  be  any  kind  of  hope  of  carry- 
ing out  a  plan  with  unity  of  design  in  it,  only  thus  that  pri- 
mary things  will  have  precedence  over  secondary  things,  and 
it  may  be  that  the  secondary  things  will  be  unnecessary  be- 
cause included  in  the  primary  things.  It  is  only  in  this  atti- 
tude that  each  worker  and  his  work  will  come  closer  to  every 
other  worker. 

It  is  in  this  way  that  the  Christian  worker  can  see  the 
dimensions  of  the  social  situation  and  be  better  able  to  diag- 
nose human  unrest  and  discontent. 

123 


IXII-c]   UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

There  is  a  broken  and  partial  view  of  the  social  situation 
which  is  both  mischievous  and  distressing.  For  one  sometimes 
-encounters  two  opposing  types  of  workers,  sometimes  tragic- 
ally suspicious  and  hostile,  and  both  claiming  Jesus  as  the 
authority  for  their  position.  The  one  focuses  wholly  on  the 
social  aspect,  and  the  other  wholly  upon  the  individual  and 
spiritual.  It  is  all  very  lamentable,  for  it  is  the  fruit  of 
partial  vision.  It  is  a  rending  of  the  program  of  Christ,  and 
each  clings  to  his  fragment.  The  result  is  that  social  work 
tends  to  become  despiritualized,  and  spiritual  work  to  become 
dehumanized.  The  atmosphere  of  Pentecost  does  not  obtain 
its  opportunity  among  social  efforts  and  the  spirit  of  service 
does  not  get  its  place  in  relation  to  spiritual  contemplation. 

The  constant  need  is  to  maintain  the  unity  of  the  program 
of  Christ,  not  by  lowering  the  spiritual  but  by  spiritualizing 
the  social  and  socializing  the  spiritual.  This  calls  for  a 
deeper  spirituality,  for  it  is  only  spiritual  power  which  can 
weld  these  parts  into  an  effective  unity, 

III 

The  Christian  worker  who  takes  his  directions  from  his 
Master  recognizes  that  the  program  of  Christ  is  based  upon 
man's  spiritual  condition  and  relations.  Everything  else  issues 
out  of  that  situation.  It  is  man's  spiritual  nature  which  in- 
vests every  phase  of  his  welfare  with  sanctity.  The  spiritual 
man,  however  much  he  may  see  the  need  for  social  renewal, 
will  never  lose  sight  of  the  supreme  place  of  emphasis.  For 
example,  let  me  quote  from  the  late  Mr.  Keir  Hardie,  who 
was  one  of  the  earliest  socialist  leaders  in  England.  He  said: 
"People  talked  about  social  reform  and  better  conditions  of 
life,  but  the  whole  /experience  of  history  made  it  manifest  that 
the  mere  increase  of  material  well-being  in  a  race  only  led  to 
further  deterioration.  From  an  experience  of  fifty-six  years, 
material  pleasures  were  the  least  satisfying.  It  rested  upon 
the  inner  life — the  ego,  the  soul,  whether  life  is  to  be  noble, 
strong,  clean,  pure,  or  ignoble  and  degrading."  That  reveals 
the  spiritual  view,  and  it  is  all  the  more  impressive  when 
it  comes  from  one  who  spent  over  fifty  years  of  his  life  in 
social  agitation. 

When  a  zvorker  takes  the  position  of  laying  the  heaviest 
weight  of  blame  for  human  failure  upon  social  conditions, 
does  he  not  thereby  encourage  some  men  to  lie  back  and  wait 

124 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  CONTRIBUTION     [XII-cI 

for  the  coining  of  happier  conditions?  A  man  expecting  a 
legacy  shortly  might  cease  to  apply  himself,  and  by  a  wrong 
relation  to  it  that  legacy  could  easily  prove  to  be  a  curse  in- 
stead of  a  blessing.  If  you  tell  a  man  that  he  cannot  do  good 
work  until  his  surroundings  are  improved,  he  may  believe  it 
and  slacken  his  effort.  But.  if  you  tell  him  that  he  can  work 
and  work  well,  and  in  the  meantime  something  is  being  done 
to  deal  with  his  surroundings,  you  are  helping  to  preserve 
the  economic  soundness  of  the  man's  relation  to  society.  The 
finest  types  of  character  have  been  bred  in  the  midst  of  severe 
difficulties.  At  any  rate,  the  point  is  that  if  the  disciple  of 
Christ  is  himself  bringing  economic  soundness  to  the  social 
situation,  he  must  also  encourage  others  so  to  do.  He  must, 
keep  the  immediate  emphasis  where  Christ  placed  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  dare  not  surrender  to  an  unwar- 
rantable optimism  as  to  what  is  going  to  issue  out  of  mere 
congenial  social  conditions  if,  and  when,  they  arrive.  There 
is  a  vague  and  flabby  optimism  which  often  intoxicates  men's 
minds  when  they  see  the  tide  of  material  prosperity  rolling  in.. 

But  so  far  as  moral  progress  is  concerned,  such  optimism 
has  no  sanction  from  Christ.  Progress  is  not  by  any  means 
necessarily  the  result  of  material  abundance ;  it  is  not  the  re- 
sult of  any  naturalistic  evolution.  It  has  been  possible  only 
as  individuals  yielded  themselves  to  God  as  the  instruments 
of  God.  There  have  been  periods  when  the  world  did  not 
grow  better,  but  worse,  not  because  God  had  no  progressive 
program  to  unfold,  but  because  he  did  not  find  human 
cooperation.  Devolution  is  as  real  an  historical  fact  as  evolu- 
tion, 

Christ  inspires  a  great  optimism,  but  it  is  created  in  his 
presence,  as  men  and  women  live  under  his  direction,  con- 
spiring to  carry  out  his  purposes.  Such  optimism  springs 
from  the  triumph  of  the  divine  will,  and  never  from  the 
mere  fact  of  economic  affluence. 

Whatever  Christianity  may  do  for  progress,  it  must  carry 
its  whole  soul  into  the  problems  of  mankind.  The  Christian 
soldier  of  the  common  good  cannot  surrender  to  the  social 
ideals  of  those  who  are  working  on  another  level  than  his  in 
the  various  enterprises  of  the  world.  They  may  be  successful, 
industrious,  masterful ;  they  may  appear  to  be  conquering  the 
world,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  they  are  really  being  conquered 
by  it — as  Rome,  while  it  conquered  Greece,  in  a  still  more  real 

125 


[XII-c]    UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

way  was  conquered  by  Greece.  As  Jesus  refused  to  identify 
his  relation  to  the  world  with  any  mere  party  program  and 
thereby  maintained  his  supreme  and  universal  contact,  so  must 
we,  who  own  Christ  as  Lord,  live  in  the  succession  of  Christ's 
relation  to  men,  by  keeping  the  emphasis  where  he  put  it.  For 
after  all  that  is  what  Christianity  is  here  for,  to  lead  and  not 
to  follow,  to  interpret  the  leadership  of  Christ  to  disillusioned 
men. 


126 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Social  Contacts 

DAILY  READINGS 
Thirteenth  Week,  First  Day:  The  Family 

Children,  obey  your  parents  in  the  Lord:  for  this  is  right. 
Honor  thy  father  and  mother  (which  is  the  first  command- 
ment with  promise),  that  it  may  be  well  with  thee,  and 
thou  mayest  live  long  on  the  earth.  And,  ye  fathers,  pro- 
voke not  your  children  to  wrath:  but  nurture  them  in  the 
chastening  and  admonition  of  the  Lord. — Eph.  6:  1-4. 

Individual  life  is  partial  life — a  world  of  individuals  would 
mean  a  world  of  incompleteness.  The  individual  after  all  is 
a  fragment;  he  is  a  part  of  the  family  as  a  branch  is  part  of 
a  tree.  Without  the  family  relation  the  greatest  words  of  all 
languages  would  be  shorn  of  their  value  and  meaning.  There 
would  be  no  education  for  the  noblest  impulses  in  human  life. 

The  Christian  individual  stands  committed  to  the  family  as 
an  irreducible  social  unit,  as  a  permanent  institution.  He  is 
pledged  to  bring  to  it  the  highest  he  knows,  the  best  that  he 
has,  the  richest  that  God  bestows  upon  him.  To  defraud  the 
family  of  the  best  is  to  injure  that  circle  in  which  life's  su- 
preme impressions  are  made,  and  its  permanent  lessons 
learned.  The  Christian  relation  to  the  family  is  fundamentally 
that  of  spiritual  and  moral  loyalty.  The  fact  that  Christ 
claims  the  first  place  from  each  does  not  impair  the  bond  be- 
tzvecn  the  various  members  of  the  household. 

In  the  highest  sense  it  guarantees  the  permanence  and  en- 
richment of  the  relationship.  Individual  primary  loyaUy  to 
Christ  purifies  the  affection  which  one  brings  to  the  family 
life.  A  lukewarm  relation  to  Christ  lessens  the  quality  of 
affection  given  to  each  other.  The  family  life  without  the 
encouragement  of  spirituality  weakens  and  impoverishes  its 
own  life,  but  genuine  family  religion  becomes  the  safeguard 
of  its  own  highest  existence,  and  the  bulwark  of  society. 

Do  we  bring  a  really  Christian  contribution  to  family  life? 
127 


[[XIII-2]  UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  EEADERSHIP 

Thirteenth  Week,  Second  Day:  The  Church 

And  he  is  the  head  of  the  body,  the  church:  who  is  the 
beginning,  the  firstborn  from  the  dead;  that  in  all  things 
he  might  have  the  preeminence.  For  it  was  the  good 
pleasure  of  the  Father  that  in  him  should  all  the  fulness 
dwell. — Col.  I :  i8,  19. 

A  Christian  is  related  to  the  Church  historically,  for  it  was 
through  the  Church  that  the  knowledge  of  Christ  was  con- 
veyed to  him.  He  is  related  to  the  Church  biologically,  because 
of  his  relation  to  Christ,  and  to  those  who  are  Christ's.  For 
the  Church  grew  out  of  the  gathering  together  of  those  to 
whom  Christ  was  the  central  reality  of  their  lives.  Meeting 
together  in  his  name  was  their  supreme  social  instinct,  and  the 
proclamation  of  his  name  was  the  soul  of  their  contact  with 
the  world. 

The  Christian's  relation  to  the  Church  is  governed  not  only 
■by  the  grace  which  he  gets  through  it,  but  also  by  what  he 
brings  to  it.  For  he  owes  the  contribution  of  his  worship, 
which  is  a  corporate  act.  He  owes  the  contribution  of  fellow- 
ship with  his  fellow  Christians,  as  a  part  of  the  whole.  He 
o  /es  the  contribution  of  his  service  in  carrying  out  with 
others  the  mind  of  Christ. 

But  it  is  a  Church  to  which  the  Christian  owes  his  alle- 
•giance ;  it  is  to  a  genuine  spiritual  fellowship  gathered  into 
the  name  of  Christ.  He  does  not  owe  it  to  a  mere  organiza- 
tion. The  Church  of  Christ  is  a  spiritual,  biological,  social 
fact. 

Is  our  relation  to  the  Church  governed  by  our  obligation  to 
the  fellowship  as  well  as  by  what  it  brings  to  us? 

Thirteenth  Week,  Third  Day:  As  an  Employer 

Knowing  that  whatsoever  good  thing  each  one  doeth, 
the  same  shall  he  receive  again  from  the  Lord,  whether 
he  be  bond  or  free.  And,  ye  masters,  do  the  same  things 
unto  them,  and  forbear  threatening:  knowing  that  he  who 
is  both  their  Master  and  yours  is  in  heaven,  and  there  is 
no  respect  of  persons  with  him. — Eph.  6:  8,  9. 

I  have  met  employers  who  have  insisted  that  cooperation 
must  govern  their  relations  with  their  employes.  Their  busi- 
ness was  a  partnership  of  profit  sharing,  and  one  cannot  fail 

128 


SOCIAL  CONTACTS  [XIII-4] 

to  observe  that  this  method  is  on  the  increase.  There  are 
others  who'  say  that  they  would  wilhngly  pursue  this  course, 
but  their  profits  are  so  small  in  the  best  years  that  in  order 
to  keep  their  business  going  in  lean  years  they  would  be  com- 
pelled to  levy  assessments  upon  their  employes.  There  are 
yet  others  who  say  frankly,  "Business  is  business.  We  are 
willing  to  give  a  fair  wage,  but  the  profits  are  ours  to  use 
according  to  our  best  judgment."  It  is  this  last  statement 
upon  which  Christian  employers  must  have  some  definite  con- 
viction. There  are  signs  in  our  time  which  call  for  clear 
thinking,  if  Christian  employers  are  to  have  an  influential 
share  in  the  leadership  of  public  opinion. 

The  Christian  employer,  however  perplexed  he  may  be  re- 
garding the  highest  form  of  social  order,  must  be  willing  to 
follow  light  wherever  it  leads  him.  He  will  not  let  his  own 
material  interests  control  him.  In  the  meantime  his  relations 
with  his  employes  will  be  fraternal.  I  knew  one  employer 
who  spent  most  of  his  evenings  visiting  his  sick  workmen. 
Every  man  in  that  concern  knew  that  the  man  at  the  head  of 
it  was  his  interested  and  sympathetic  comrade.  There  never 
was  a  strike  in  that  factory. 

Thirteenth  Week,  Fourth  Day:  As  an  Employe 

Servants,  be  obedient  unto  them  that  according  to  the 
flesh  are  your  masters,  with  fear  and  trembling,  in  single- 
ness of  your  heart,  as  unto  Christ;  not  in  the  way  of  eye- 
service,  as  menpleasers;  but  as  servants  of  Christ,  doing 
the  will  of  God  from  the  heart;  with  good  will  doing 
service,  as  unto  the  Lord,  and  not  unto  men. — Eph.  6:  5-7. 

The  employe  is  here  urged  to  do  his  duty  as  the  servant  of 
Christ,  and  not  merely  to  get  through  with  a  task. 

It  is  this  attitude  of  doing  one's  work  as  a  Christian  which 
raises  a  man  above  all  kinds  of  servitude.  While  such  a  man 
labors,  his  work  is  baptizing  his  life  with  new  power.  He 
lives  far  above  slavery  to  a  position,  for  Christ  has  liberated 
him.  He  is  Christ's  free  man,  even  though  he  has  to  toil 
hard  through  the  days ;  his  labor  is  the  honest  expression  of 
his  soul. 

Besides,  the  relation  of  a  Christian  employe  is  one  of  good 
will.  He  may  sometimes  have  to  speak  very  frankly,  but 
there  is  no  hate  or  bitterness  in  his  heart.     Men  can  discuss 

129 


[XIII-5]   UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

anything,  so  long  as  the  spirit  is  right.  It  is  when  vindictive- 
ness  enters  into  a  relationship  that  there  is  really  no  solution 
of  a  difficulty.  In  that  temper  if  it  is  not  one  thing  that  is 
wrong,  it  is  another.  A  prominent  lawyer  said  to  me  not 
long  ago  that  a  great  deal  of  litigation  was  simply  the  warfare 
of  a  vindictive  spirit,  which  ought  to  have  been  conquered. 

In  the  Christian  attitude  toward  his  work  and  his  employer, 
a  man  is  not  dependent  upon  human  praise.  He  is  grateful 
for  appreciation,  but  if  it  does  not  come  he  is  not  soured 
thereby,  for  he  is  looking  to  his  Lord  for  a  verdict  upon 
what  he  does. 

Do  we  perform  our  task  first  of  all  as  unto  Christ? 

Thirteenth  Week,  Fifth  Day:  As  a  Friend 

Love  sufifereth  long,  and  is  kind;  love  envieth  not;  love 
yaunteth  not  itself,  is  not  puffed  up,  doth  not  behave 
itself  unseemly,  seeketh  not  its  own,  is  not  provoked,  tak- 
eth  not  account  of  evil. — I  Cor.  13;  4,  5. 

A  Christian  learns  from  his  Master  that  life's  greatest 
achievement  is  not  to  get  but  to  give.  As  a  friend  he  is  not 
looking  for  cordial  declarations  towards  himself,  but  he  main- 
tains kindly  relations  towards  others.  Sorrow  and  disappoint- 
ment await  those  who  are  constantly  taking  the  temperature 
of  the  feeling  of  others  towards  them.  Such  an  attitude  mars 
many  a  freshman's  year  at  college.  It  makes  men  become 
shrinking,  supersensitive,  and  cruelly  suspicious.  If  un- 
checked, it  may  be  the  beginning  of  a  lifelong  cynicism. 

A  Christian  not  only  counts  the  primary  element  in  friend- 
ship as  giving,  but  he  has  something  to  give,  for  Christ  en- 
riches his  deepest  self.  He  has  to  see  to  it  for  his  friend's 
sake  as  well  as  for  his  own,  that  he  grows  in  the  inner  life. 
He  must  be  at  his  best.    "For  their  sakes  I  sanctify  myself." 

A  Christian  receives  friendship  as  well  as  gives  it,  and  if 
he  follows  Christ  he  receives  it  for  itself  and  not  for  the  garb 
in  which  it  comes.  Some  of  the  choicest  friendships  may 
come  with  no  promise  of  worldly  advantage,  and  in  refusing 
them  many  have  refused  life's  richest  gifts.  It  is  the  spirit 
of  worldliness  which  has  for  many  emptied  out  the  wealth  of 
meaning  that  there  is  in  friendship.  A  merely  calculating  as- 
sociation with  desirable  people  is  not  friendship. 

Are  we  looking  for  friends,  or  giving  ourselves  as  friends? 

130 


SOCIAL  CONTACTS  [XIII-6] 

Thirteenth  Week,  Sixth  Day :  The  Community 

Jesus  therefore  lifting  up  his  eyes,  and  seeing  that  a 
great  muUitude  cometh  unto  him,  saith  unto  Philip, 
Whence  are  we  to  buy  bread  that  these  may  eat?  And 
this  he  said  to  prove  him:  for  he  himself  knew  what  he 
would  do.  Philip  answered  him,  Tv/o  hundred  shillings' 
worth  of  bread  is  not  sufficient  for  them,  that  every  one 
may  take  a  little.  One  of  his  disciples,  Andrew,  Simon 
Peter's  brother,  saith  unto  him.  There  is  a  lad  here,  who 
hath  five  barley  loaves,  and  two  fishes:  but  what  are  these 
among  so  many? — John  6:  5-9. 

It  is  astonishing  how  many  Christian  people  have  no  point 
of  contact  with  the  opportunities  for  service  in  a  community. 
One  is  sometimes  tempted  to  think  that  such  service  is  con- 
fined to  one  or  two  classes  of  the  population,  and  it  is  difficult 
to  find  out  whether  those  other  classes  are  not  wanted,  or 
whether  they  do  not  care  to  serve.  At  any  rate  there  are 
large  numbers  of  Christian  people  who  ought  to  have  a  defi- 
nite personal  appeal  made  to  them  for  service  in  the  town 
where  they  live.  It  may  be  that  they  are  shy,  lacking  assur- 
ance, and  they  will  never  take  the  initiative.  They  must  be 
met  more  than  half  way.  Some  one  must  lay  some  definite 
challenge  upon  them.  A  clearing  house  for  the  varieties  of 
service  in  a  community,  where  individuals  could  readily  see 
what  opportunities  there  are,  would  go  far  to  solve  the  situ- 
ation as  it  now  stands.  Too  often  a  man  is  asked  to  do  some- 
thing for  which  he  knows  he  is  not  fitted ;  he  refuses,  and 
the  matter  ends  there.  He  is  not  indifferent,  but  the  right 
work  has  not  yet  been  presented  to  him.  Yet  there  is  a 
sphere  for  him  and  he  has  a  latent  capacity  for  the  sphere, 
but  they  have  not  yet  met.  , 

The  press  of  a  town  would  surely  be  willing  to  aid  in 
giving  publicity  to  the  various  aspects  of  opportunity  for 
public  service. 

Have  we  a  relation  of  definite  service  to  our  community? 

Thirteenth  Week,  Seventh  Day:  The  Nation 

Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world.  A  city  set  on  a  hill  cannot 
be  hid.  Neither  do  men  light  a  lamp,  and  put  it  under  the 
bushel,  but  on  the  stand;  and  it  shineth  unto  all  that  are  in 
the  house.     Even  so  let  your  light  shine  before  men;  that 

131 


[XIII-c]    UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

they  may  see  your  good  works,  and  glorify  your  Father 
who  is  in  heaven. — Matt.  5:  14-16. 

The  example  of  Jesus  proclaims  every  true  disciple  as  a 
lover  of  his  country,  and  as  ready  to  live  or  die  for  his 
country. 

The  truest  patriotism  implies  that  each  shall  bring  the  high- 
est that  he  knows,  the  best  that  is  in  him,  to  this  service.  No 
man  is  giving  himself  completely — even  if  he  lays  down  his 
physical  life — if  he  does  not  give  his  whole  being.  We  must 
pass  on  to  the  nation  the  best  we  have  received.  We  must 
transmit  through  our  personality  the  fruits  of  all  the  hallowed 
sacrifices  of  the  past.  A  nation  can  be  great  in  itself  and 
able  to  influence  the  rest  of  the  world  only  as  its  citizens 
supply  the  moral  reality  necessary  to  achieve  its  destiny.  The 
moral  condition  of  a  nation  is  its  supreme  asset,  and  that 
condition  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  the  sum  of  the  moral 
qualities  in  all  citizens. 

Arising  out  of  patriotism,  but  not  as  a  substitute  for  it, 
Jesus  also  revealed  a  universal  contact.  And  it  is  our  prob- 
lem to  realize  in  some  practical  way  such  a  Christian  univer- 
sal sympathy.  That  may  be  attempted  through  a  definite  con- 
cern for  world-wide  Christian  missionary  enterprise  on  the 
one  hand,  and  for  the  fostering  of  a  spirit  of  internationalism 
on  the  other. 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 


The  individual  serves  most  efifectively  only  in  relation  to 
organized  effort.  Achievement  everywhere  is  the  result  of  co- 
operation. You  find  this  corporate  idea  running  through 
nature  and  human  nature.  In  a  beehive  organization  brings 
about  results  that  could  not  otherwise  be  achieved.  In  human 
history  the  clan  groups  are  the  early  expression  of  this  princi- 
ple of  combination. 

The  Christian  individual  historically  found  his  supreme  op- 
portunity in  and  through  the  Church.  Christianity  has  two 
main  centers  towards  which  it  seeks  to  have  individuals  move 
in  their  service :  first,  the  Christian  community,  and  second, 
the  Kingdom  of  God. 

The  Christian  community  is  based  upon  an  instinctive  spirit- 

132 


SOCIAL  CONTACTS  [XIII-c] 

ual  association.  In  this  association  each  has  a  relation  to 
Christ  and  to  each  other.  The  repudiation  of  these  relations 
is  disloyalty  to  the  whole  corporate  situation. 

The  Church  exists  for  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
But  there  must  be  a  Church,  if  there  is  to  be  a  Kingdom  as 
Christ  conceived  it,  if  it  is  to  surpass  the  partial  glimpses  we 
have  seen  of  it.  //  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth  is  to  be  in 
any  way  an  ordered,  morally  exact,  social  fact,  then  it  must 
have  an  ordered,  morally  exact  means  of  achievement.  If  it 
is  to  be  a  universal  fact  it  can  spring  only  from  that  origin 
which  has  a  universal  program  and  outlook.  Therefore  the 
disciples  of  Christ  ov/e  an  allegiance  to  the  Church  for  the 
sake  of  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom. 

The  Church,  however,  is  not  an  end  in  itself  in  its  relation 
to  the  Kingdom ;  it  is  a  means  to  an  end.  The  immediate 
followers  of  Jesus  were  not  guilty  of  falsifying  the  emphasis 
Jesus  laid  on  the  Kingdom  idea.  The  mischief  was  wrought 
later,  when  the  Church  came  to  be  considered  as  an  end  rather 
than  as  an  instrument  to  bring  in  the  Kingdom. 

The  Kingdom  of  God  is  the  other  element  in  the  idea  of 
corporateness  inherent  in  historical  Christianity. 

As  taught  by  Jesus,  the  Kingdom  of  God  was  at  once  within 
the  individual,  and  was  also  social.  Socially  the  Kingdom  zvas 
to  be  the  realization  of  human  relations  in  which  the  zvill  of 
God  ivoiild  be  both  the  motive  and  the  goal.  This  Kingdom 
is  to  be  realized  not  merely  in  one  sphere  of  life,  but  in  every 
department  of  human  interest.  It  is  the  Christian  ideal  for 
the  life  of  the  world. 

As  we  have  seen,  for  the  coming  of  this  Kingdom  Jesus 
refused  to  be  identified  with  any  contemporary  theory  of 
social  reformation.  He  would  not  stir  from  seeing  the  human 
situation  in  the  light  of  eternal  reality. 

II 

Therefore  in  order  to  have  the  Kingdom  come  in  Christ's 
way  and  to  the  extent  of  his  universal  purpose,  there  must  be 
a  new  turning  to  the  Church  to  achieve  it.  For  the  Church 
is  the  extension  of  the  life  and  purpose  of  Christ.  You  say — 
not  as  it  is,  and  I  quite  agree.  Large  numbers  of  people, 
whether  we  like  it  or  not,  have  lost  faith  in  the  power  of  the 
Church  to  realize  the  Kingdom  in  the  midst  of  the  institutions 

i.?3 


[XIII-c]    UNDER  THE  HIGHEST  LEADERSHIP 

of  society.     They  point  to  the  comparative  impotence  of  the 
Church  during  these  heart-breaking  days. 

But  while  that  may  all  be  very  true,  it  is  still  the  function 
of  the  Church  to  fulfil  Christ's  purpose  in  bringing  in  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  The  Church  may  'have  lost  its  unction,  but 
it  cannot  lose  its  function.  For  Christ  is  behind  it  and  it- is 
only  he  who  can  bring  in  a  universal  Kingdom  of  God.  What 
other  agency  or  group  of  agencies  could  do  it?  Where  would 
the  universal  scheme  come  from,  the  universal  morality?  It 
is  not  that  the  Church  should  be  ignored,  or  scrapped,  it  is 
that  it  should  be  brought  back  into  the  presence  of  the  Living 
Lord.  The  summons  is  loud  to  every  one  of  us  who  belongs 
to  the  Church  to  come  back  anew  under  the  spell  of  the 
living,  creative  Center  of  the  Church,  to  dedicate  ourselves 
afresh  for  the  universal  coming  of  the  Kingdom.  Then  there 
is  a  task  which  must  be  faced — stupendous  as  it  is,  shrink 
from  it  as  we  may. 

The  Church  is  being  called  by  the  condition  of  the  world  to 
a'more  serious  effort  than  ever  before  towards  some  form  of 
corporate  unity.  If  the  Church  had  a  vital  sense  of  the  Lord's 
presence  and  a  united  purpose  in  all  its  parts  during  this' 
tragic  time,  who  will  say  there  wolild  be  no  distinct  message? 
But  so  long  as  the  Church's  life  is  competitive  instead  of  co- 
operative, so  long  as  it  is  driven  in  upon  its  own  local,  self- 
conscious,  divisive  existence,  how  can  it  respond  to  Christ's 
cosmic  ambitions  for  it?  How  can  the  Church  rebuke  the 
institutions  of  society  for  their  heartless  competitions,  so  long 
as  its  own  practical  policy  moves  along  the  same  line? 

It  is  very  easy  to  take  refuge  in  happy  generalizations  about 
God  fulfilling  his  purpose  in  a  great  variety  of  ways,  and  if 
the  Kingdom  does  not  come  through  the  Church  then  it  will 
come  through  other  channels.  But  when  those  who  are  mem- 
bers of  the  body  of  Christ  talk  like  that,  are  they  not  losing 
their  conviction  as  to  how  the  Kingdom  is  to  come?  Are  they 
not  throwing  the  ship's  chart  and  compass  overboard  and 
merrily  trusting  to  fate  that  things  will  come  out  all  right? 
Where  is  the  old  warrior  declaration :  "I  am  persuaded  that 
He  is  able"? 

Never  did  this  old  world  need  guidance  as  it  requires  it 
now.  And  there  is  a  strong  sense  in  the  minds  of  multitudes 
that  Christ  is  able  to  give  it  its  fresh  start.  But  the  tragic 
fact  is  that  Christ  does  not  get  his  opportunity,  because  of 

134 


SOCIAL  CONTACTS  [XIII-c] 

the  preoccupation,  distraction,  and  rivalry  of  those  who  are 
the  members  of  his  body. 

Ill 

There  are  things  that  must  be  done  in'  and  for  society  which 
only  Christ  can  adequately  achieve.  The  world  must  have  an 
increasing  sense  of  the  meaning  of  righteousness  and  of  sin. 
We  have  seen  into  what  a  welter  of  moral  confusion  men  fall 
when  they  let  go  their  hold  upon  religion  in  general  and  vital 
Christianity  in  particular.  It  is  significant  to  hear  Mr.  H.  G. 
Wells  say  that  there  is  no  sufficient  bond  for  the  family 
apart  from  religion.  Who  quickened  the  darkened  conscience 
of  the  i8th  century  in  England?  Was  it  not  the  men  who 
knew  Jesus  Christ? 

Society  must  have  an  increasing  sense  that  there  is  a  soul 
behind  the  social  fabric ;  that  there  is  the  possibility  of 
warmth  for  those  who  freeze  amidst  the  frigid  facts  of  exist- 
ence; that  there  is  a  reason  for  optimism;  that  there  is  a 
basis  for  peace. 

It  wistfully  listens  for  a  certain  message  upon  the  end  and 
aim  of  life — for  the  right  emphasis  and  proportion  in  living. 
It  looks  to  see  a  revelation  in  men  and  women  of  the  fact  of 
eternal  life,  not  merely  as  a  hope,  but  as  an  actual  experience 
lived  out  amongst  the  painful  facts  of  today.  It  is  not  clear 
upon  these  things.  And  in  its  confusion  does  it  not,  hoping 
against  fears,  turn  once  more  for  a  message  to  those  who 
know  Christ?  While  it  asks  for  that  message,  it  silently  hopes 
that  the  Church  will  shake  itself  free  from  the  world's  own 
temper,  A  man  who  asks  to  be  awakened  at  a  certain  hour 
insists  that  it  take  place,  even  though  he  beats  him  who  does 
the  awakening.  Is  not  this  the  mood  in  which  at  least  sec- 
tions of  society  turn  towards  those  who  know  the  secret  of 
Jesus?  It  is  as  if  men  were  saying  to  the  Church,  "Do  not 
be  afraid  of  us,  do  not  compromise  with  us,  do  not  seek  our 
favor  or  fear  our  frown ;  tell  us  what  you  have  from  your 
Lord,  for  we  need  it.  We  are  disillusioned  souls ;  if  you  love 
us,  forget  yourself,  and  give  us  the  gospel  of  a  new  hope." 


135 


Date  Due 

^P  27  "39 

^ 

W: 


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